The Thorn of a Rose
by SirAvery
Summary: Emiko Kobayashi lived in America until she moved to Japan to attend Ouran Academy on a scholarship to get away from an abusive boyfriend. But what will happen when the boyfriend eventually follows her? KyouyaxOC
1. Chapter 1

~The Thorn of a Rose~

Chapter 1

~Emiko's POV~

I smiled, relaxing in the piano seat of the Band room. My friends, May, Anna, and Lia were hanging around, giggling. I haven't been able to spend any time with them for weeks. I enjoyed the time that I was spending, but also, at the same time, dreaded it. It was a bomb that was just waiting to explode, because when _he _found out where I was, he was going to be pissed...

Speak of the devil and he shall appear **[A/N Sorry if this offends anyone]**. The very heart of my dreads walked into the band room, an angry glimmer in his eyes. Mark looked around, and noticed me sitting in front of the piano, with my friends surrounding me. Lia had out her flute and was playing it along with Anna on trumpet and May on tenor saxophone. I swallowed in fear as he walked up to me and gripped my shoulder. To anyone else, it would look like he was simply resting his hand on my shoulder, but I winced slightly as I could feel his fingers digging into it. "I'm sorry, ladies, but I need to borrow my girlfriend," he said to them, smiling charmingly.

Lia blushed. "No, go right ahead!" she said cheerfully. I bit my lip, but allowed him to put a hand underneath my arm and lead me from the band room. I flinched slightly as the doors closed behind me, knowing I was going to get it.

Mark cast me an angry glare, and tugged me into a currently unused classroom, closing the door. He turned to face me, his eyes tight with anger. "What the fuck do you think you were doing?" he asked me quietly and deadly.

I flinched. "I was just killing time until you got out of the test remake by spending it with my friends. I haven't seen them in-"

"I don't care!" Mark yelled. "I told you to stop seeing them, but you didn't!" He punched me, and I went flying backward into thse wall. "I told you to stay the fuck away from any of your so-called 'friends', didn't I? But being the bitch you are, you didn't listen to me!" He grabbed me by the shoulders and threw me down on the ground. I whimpered in pain and fear. "Don't you ever see or talk to them again, or you will get it," he hissed. I nodded, unable to speak at the moment.

He roughly pulled me up, and grabbed my chin, making me look in his eyes. "I love you, and that's why I'm doing this! I don't want to hurt you, but you're making me! So if you be the good little girlfriend, then I won't have to hurt you. I love you, Emiko, please understand." He released me and guided me out of the classroom. "Let's go. I'm walking you home."

~..*..~

I stared at my reflection in the mirror. I had a large bruise on my cheek from where Mark punched me, and I was aching all over. Sighing, I picked up some makeup and applied it to my cheeks, hoping that it would cover up the ugly dark spot. It did so, barely. I bit my lip, staring at my reflection, then turned away from the mirror and walked downstairs. "Mada-jan, has the mail arrived yet?" Ever since I read the book _Under the Parsimmon Tree _I called my mother Mada-jan.

My mother nodded. "Yea, AJ just grabbed it." She motioned toward the table. I walked over and went through it, and froze when I found a letter addressed to me. Trembling, I stared at the neat handwriting, before turning it over to view the seal. The seal was an O with an R connected to it. I gasped slightly and ripped it open, and read the letter.

My mother watched me. "What does it say?"

I look up at her, and grin, a real grin, for the first time in a couple months. "I got in. I got in! I got the scholarship! I'm going to Japan, and Ouran Academy!" Tears freely flew down my face, as I laughed aloud. "_I got in!"_

~..*..~

I swallowed. I was in my room, staring at my phone. Now the only hard part is that I have to tell Mark. Knowing him, he was going to be beyond pissed, and would demand that I not go. But its because of him is why I'm going. I wanted to be away from him and his abusiveness. He would hit me or kick me one moment, then the next he would be kissing me and telling me that he loved me. My feelings were so mixed up in a jumble that I couldn't tell which was which anymore.

I was never like this before. I used to be so happy and carefree, and at the time Mark seemed really nice and funny, so I agreed to go out with him. It began with a few minor changes at first, but then gradually I found out the true side of Mark, as he forced me to leave band, stop hanging out with my friends, and lose contact with my relatives. I broke up with him once, but he ended up breaking my arm and giving me a concussion. Afterwards he was so worried, and tender, and loving that I gave in. The doctors were suspicious, but Mark was able to wave it off and say that I fell.

I sighed, knowing that I couldn't put it off any longer. I would leave for Japan in the morning, and I had to tell him. I dialed his number, and held it up to my ear, and waited, heart pounding, as it rang.

Mark picked up. "Hey, baby, what's up?"

I swallowed. "Mark, it's over. You win."

His voice suddenly became angry. "What are you talking about, Emiko?"

"You win. You're abusive to me, mean, you play with my feelings as if they are nothing, and I have had to stand it for months. Not anymore."

"If you think that you can just walk out-" Mark began to roar, but I cut him off.

"It's over between us. I'm switching schools, so you won't be able to corner me at school anymore. Don't bother trying to find me, because the school is not in Maine. It's not even in the United States. I'm switching schools, and leaving the country, so don't even bother trying to find out where I'm going. It's not worth your time. It's over."

"You goddamn fucking-" he caught himself, and took a breath, switching tactics. "Emiko, baby, I need you. You can't leave me. I love you, baby, please, don't leave me."

My eyes filled up with tears, and I squeezed them shut. "STOP PLAYING WITH MY EMOTIONS!" I screamed. "Leave me alone! For the sake of God **[A/N I'm sorry if that offends anyone] **just leave me the fuck alone!" I hit the end button, hanging up on him. He immediately tried to call me back, but I turned my phone off. I stood in the centre of my room as the full impact of what I just did crashed down on me. I did it. I was free from Mark.

A grin split my face. "It's my life, it's now or never. I ain't gonna live forever, I just wanna live while I'm alive. Cause IT'S...MY...LIFE!"

**A/N**

Hiya everybody! Sorry for the rather dark first chapter/prolouge-thingy. I had to set the scene before she gets to Ouran, and meet the Host Club! So hang in there!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N

Thanks so much to everyone that reviewed! Internet hugs and alpacas for all of you! :D please continuing reading and reviewing!

oh, and by the by, the last line in the previous chapter was from one of my favorite songs, It's My Life by Bon Jovi. Those who have never heard that song are sorely missing out, and should listen to it immediately!

Disclaimer: I don't own Ouran High School Host Club :(, but I do own Emiko Kobayashi, Mark, her mom, AJ, and any other random OC that happens to pop into this story! :)

~Thorn of a Rose~

Chapter 2

Finished unpacking, I looked around my apartment. It was rather small but comfortable. I had put my desk in the living room, along with a small t.v. The couch was plump and armed with comfortable pillows, and the coffee table already had my textbooks and notebooks for when I started school the next day. My laptop, phone, and iPod were already plugged in and charging, getting ready for use. Satisfied, I turned to the kitchen, ready to make some lunch.

There was a knock at the door, and I paused. Going over to it, I opened it to find a girl about my height, maybe a little taller, standing there. **[A/N Emiko is rather short, not as short as Hunny, but like a little shorter than Haruhi] **She had short brown hair and large chocolate-brown eyes. She smiled at me. "Hi! I'm Haruhi Fujioka, and I live next door to you."

I smiled. "Hiya! I'm Emiko Kobayashi. I just moved here from Maine, in America. I'm on a music scholarship to Ouran Academy."

She smiled. "I'm on an academic scholarship to Ouran Academy. Would you like to come over for some lunch?"

I nod and grin. "Thanks, I'm starving." I follow her next door to her apartment. It's clean and neat. I chatted with Haruhi while helping her prepare lunch, giving her some facts of my life, while leaving everything to do with Mark entirely out of it. That part of my life was over and done with, and I had no intention of ever going back to it.

I could tell that Haruhi and I were fast becoming really good friends. I was growing more comfortable and more relaxed around her. It felt so good to be hanging around a girlfriend again. Once Mark started to show his true side, I was banned from ever seeing my friends again. That day in the band room was the first time I had talked to them in weeks.

We had finished lunch and was tidying up the place when there was a knock on the door. I continued cleaning up while Haruhi went to answer it. I watched as she opened the door, and saw six guys standing outside, each more gorgeous than the next. I blinked, staring. Who were these guys?

"~Come plaaay with us, Haruhi!~" four of them sang, the tall blonde with the iris eyes, two ginger-haired twins with glinting amber eyes, and a small boy with a sweet-looking face. There was a tall, tall guy with black hair and a stoic expression. The small boy was hanging off of his shoulders. There was also a guy just out of my eyesight, who I couldn't see.

Haruhi sighed in frustration. "No, you guys, not today. I'm spending time with my new neighbor."

They all perked up at that, and then they saw me. Immediately, the tall blonde with the iris eyes appeared in front of me. When he grabbed my hand, I flinched instinctively. Even though his touch was gentle, it still brought back memories of Mark.

The guy gave me a concerned and thoughtful look, but it was quickly gone. "Hello, my princess, my apologies for not seeing you sooner. I am Tamaki Suoh, and it is my pleasure to meet a beautiful princess such as yourself. May I inquire as to your name, Madamoiselle?"

I smiled softly. I could see that Tamaki was a really good and genuine person. "I'm Emiko Kobayashi, and it is my pleasure to meet you, Suoh-san."

"Please, just call me Tamaki," he said, flashing a smile at me.

The two twins elbowed him out of the way. "Hey, our turn, boss," they said in perfect sync. They turned to me with a smile, each grabbing a hand and kissing it. "We're Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin! Pleased to meet you, Kobayashi-san."

"Please, just Emiko. I'm still not that used to all the honorifics," I explained.

"Are you from America?" the little boy piped up. "I'm Mitsukuni Haninozuka, but you can just call me Hunny! And that's Takashi Morinozuka, but you can call him Mori. He doesn't say much, but he sticks with me." Hunni patted his head.

"Nice to meet you, Hunny and Mori. And yes, I'm from America, specifically Maine." I smile at them both.

I feel someone standing next to me, and I look up to see the last boy, the one who I couldn't see. He was taller than me, as was to be expected, almost as tall as Tamaki. He had raven-black hair, with glasses. The glare from the lights was covering them, so I couldn't see what color his eyes were. He pushed his glasses up on his face, making them flash. "You're Emiko Kobayashi, the one going to Ouran Academy on a music scholarship, are you not?" he inquired in a smooth and suave voice. Privately, I thought that he was the best-looking out of the bunch.

I nod, but before I could say anything, Hunni asked, "Music scholarship? Then what instruments do you play?"

I smile at him. "I play the piano mostly, but I do play alto saxophone and violin. My best instrument is the piano, though."

"I play the piano as well!" Tamaki exclaimed. "We should do some duets sometime!"

I grin. "I'd love to!"

One of the twins looked at the raven-haired boy. "Kyouya, how do you know about this girl already?"

The boy, Kyouya, smirked, whipping out a black notebook. "I make it my priority to know about any new students entering Ouran Academy. She lived in Portland, Maine, with her mother, Mary Kobayashi, and younger brother, Aaron Jason, also known as AJ. She plays the alto saxophone, mallets **[A/N I play percussion in my band, mostly mallets, but I do some snare/bass drum too. Mallets are like marimba, xylophone, bells, chimes, etc.], **piano, violin, and does guitar for fun. She is a pretty good student in school, and has been reported as kind, sweet, and thoughtful, though, but over the last couple months she has been reserved and keeping to herself. Allergic to bee-stings. Was in the hospital about a month ago with a broken arm and a concussion, the reason being that she fell. Hasn't really been in contact with her relatives in a couple of months." He paused, looking at me. "This is all true, correct?"

I had been staring at him the whole time. "Stalker much?" I was nervous that he would say something about my relationship with my ex, Mark, but he didn't. At least he didn't go into depth about the hospital visit.

Kyouya smirked at me, and I began to get a small itch to smack that smug look of his face. I turned my face away from him, resisting the urge. I could feel the smugness radiating from him, as if he knew what I wanted to do.

One of the twins grabbed onto Haruhi. "C'mon, Haruhi! Let's go play! Bring your new commoner friend, too!"

I sweatdropped. _Commoner? _I sighed and mentally groaned. Great. All these guys were probably freaking billionaires.

Haruhi sighed. "Hikaru, get off of me, please. And that's entirely up to what Emiko wants." I noted Hikaru's features, looking for differences from his brothers, so it would be easier to tell him apart from Kaoru in the future. I quickly deducted that Hikaru's face was more sly and mischeivious than Kaoru's.

Realizing that Haruhi was still waiting for an answer, I smiled. "No, thank you, I still want to get things ready for tomorrow. Thanks anyway, though!"

"Alright, nice meeting you, see you tomorrow!" Tamaki, Hunni, and the twins chanted, then grabbed Haruhi and raced from the apartment, with Mori following them. I sweatdropped. "Umm...okay?"

"You'll get used to their ways," Kyouya said, coming up next to me, in a disinterested voice.

I sighed. "Okay, if you say so. It was nice meeting you, Kyouya. I should get going." He followed me out of the apartment.

I was about to go inside my apartment, when Kyouya said, "Emiko." I paused and looked at him. His glasses had slipped down just enough so that I could see the color of his eyes. They were a beautiful grey color, but filled with a careful guardness, as if he constantly was on alert and hid his emotions.

He watched me. "I didn't say it before, but I'll finish my report. There was a boy with you, a year older than you, when you went to the hospital. He was the one who said you fell. The doctors were suspicious because you had other injuries that happened before you 'fell' that day. Some teachers and students also recall you having numerous bruises everywhere, and would constantly hang out with a boy. Is this all coming back to you?"

I gripped the doorhandle. "I am a clumsy person. I could walk across a smooth floor and fall. I was just being clumsy a lot, and my friend was helping me through hard times. Please excuse me." I went inside and shut the door, catching a small glimpse of his smirking face. The itch to smack him was coming back, but I sighed heavily and went to sit on the couch. Why was this Kyouya-guy bringing back unpleasant memories? What happened with Mark was over and done with. It deserved to be let rest in peace.

All thoughts of the very-annoying boy vanished as I thought of school the next day. Excitement began to bubble up inside of me again. Although I had the wear the yellow-marshmellow that decided to pass itself off as a dress, I was still happy with the outcome. I grinned. This was going to turn out better than I had dared hoped.

A/N

Second chapter out! Whaddya think? It's much lighter in heart than the first chapter, that's for sure! Please review and tell me what you think. People who review will get an alpaca. Those who don't will face the wrath of my ninja penguins. Have a nice day :3


	3. Chapter 3

A/N

Thanks to everyone that reviewed! You all are the best! Due to a request, free ninja penguins to all of you :D

Disclaimer: I don't anything from Ouran High School Host Club, but I do own my Ocs :)

~The Thorn of a Rose~

Chapter 3

"Miss Kobayashi-san, would you like introduce yourself?" the teacher inquired.

I nodded, standing in front of the class. "Ano, my name is Emiko Kobayashi, and I'm here from America on a music scholarship. I have a little brother named AJ, and I love music in any way, shape, or form," I told everyone.

The teacher nodded. "Very well, you sit next to Mr. Fujioka and ...Kaoru...Hitachiin."

Hikaru raised his hand. "I'm Hikaru, Yuzama-sensei."

He waved his hand. "Details, details. Anyway, this week we're going to start learning about..."

I sat down next to Haruhi and murmured, "Mister?"

"I disguise myself as a boy here. I'll explain later," she muttered back. I smiled and started listening to the lesson.

Halfway through my phone silently vibrated. When the teacher's back was turned I quickly flipped it open and looked at it. It was from Mark. _Just because you left America doesn't mean that I'm not going to give up on you. Because I'm not. You're mine, Emiko._

Hikaru leaned over. "What's it say?" he whispered.

Feeling slightly sick, I deleted the message, and gave him a fake smile. "Nothing." He shrugged and went back to aimlessly doodling.

~..*..~

Lunchtime soon arrived, and the twins dragged Haruhi and I to the cafeteria. "I can walk, just to let you know," I told Kaoru, rolling my eyes.

He grinned at me, crookedly. "But that's no fun!"

I rolled my eyes but laughed, smiling. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed to just joke around and have fun.

We joined up with the other members of the host club in the cafeteria. I plopped down in a seat next to Haruhi and we both took out our bentos. She had already explained about her 8 million yen debt towards the group, and I found it all hilarious. Haruhi didn't think so.

The twins sat to my right while Kyouya and Tamaki sat directly across, with Hunni and Mori next to them. We were all having a good time, when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Looking up, I saw a boy. I noticed that Kyouya's glasses flashed, but I ignored him. I smiled. "Yes?"

"Are you Emiko Kobayashi?" he asked. I nodded, and he grinned. "I thought you looked familiar! I'm Takumi Suzuki. I'm a friend of Mark Wilson. It's good to finally meet his girlfriend."

I froze, and I felt the host's eyes on me. I forced a smile on my face. "Uh, well, Mark and I aren't together anymore."

He blinked. "Really? Oh, sorry, I didn't know."

I forced myself to keep the smile. "It's fine. We broke up fairly recently."

Takumi shrugged. "Still sorry to bother you. Well, see ya around." He left.

I could feel the hosts' eyes still on me. "You have a boyfriend?" Hikaru questioned.

I grabbed my bento. "Weren't you listening? Not anymore, thank God." **[sorry if anyone takes offense]** I got up from the table and tossed my bento into the trash, noticing a thoughtful look on Kyouya's face. I gritted my teeth and left the cafeteria. I still had almost an hour left of lunch, so I decided to explore the grounds. I was about to head into the rose maze, when I heard a voice say, "I wouldn't go in there."

I looked to see Tamaki. He smiled at me. "You'll get hopelessly lost. But if that happened, then Kyouya would be able to get us. He's the only one that knows his way through the rose maze."

I sighed and sat down on a stone bench, Tamaki sitting down next to me. "I'm sorry for walking out on you."

He shrugged. "It's fine. Are you alright?"

I didn't look at him. "I came here to Japan to try to get away from memories, and now they just popped up again. I'm not especially thrilled."

He put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "What happened between you two, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Let's just say that it wasn't working out for me." Sensing that I didn't want to talk about it, Tamaki dropped the subject.

"You know, you should come to the host club after school," Tamaki said in a lighter tone of voice.

I shrugged. "Maybe. I also want to check out a couple of other clubs that Ouran has, like Ouran's Orchestra and the Classical Music Club, but I'm sure I can make it." I smile at him, facing him again.

He grins. "Well, I hope you can make it."

"Thanks for coming to talk to me," I said, and I meant it. It made me feel...accepted, like I belonged. It felt so good, after everything I'd been through in the last couple of months.

Tamaki understood what I was not saying. He smiled. "It's my pleasure."

We chatted for a little bit before joining the host club again. I apologized to everyone for running out on them, and they all forgave me before I even opened my mouth. Little by little, I could feel the scars on my heart begin to repair themselves the more time that I spent with this club.

~..*..~

Happily carrying a folder full of new music that I got, after being accepted into both the orchestra and the Classical music club, I headed towards Music Room 3. The pieces that everyone was doing were good selections in my opinion. In the orchestra we were doing Pachebel's canon in d, which was a personal favorite of mine. The Classical Music club was letting us pick pieces on our own, so I was eager to go home and start looking through my extensive sheet music library.

I came to the doors, and opened them. My vision was filled with a blinding light, and I was suddenly attacked by rose petals. "Welcome," several voices said. I gasped and fell backwards, spitting some rose petals out of my mouth.

I heard people laughing and I stood up, picking up my music folder. I glared at Hikaru and Kaoru, who were pretty much dying of laughter. "Oh, shut up, you two," I muttered. Kyouya smirked at me, pushing his glasses up on his face. On impulse, I stuck my tongue out at him. He looked startled, and I died of laughter from his expression. It only made the twins laugh harder. Kyouya quickly recovered and glared at me, but I only gave him an innocent look, still laughing.

Tamaki grabbed my hand. "You made it, imoto-chan!" he yelled excitedly.

I was slightly startled by being called his younger sister, but I smiled. "Yep! It didn't take too long at the other clubs, so I decided to come here."

"Good, then you request us," the twins said in unison.

Hunni frowned. "No, I want her to come eat cake with me and Takashi!"

"But I wanted to spend some brother-sister time," Tamaki whined.

I laughed. "Actually, you guys, I wanted to help Haruhi pay off her debt by requesting her."

Haruhi grinned. "Thanks, Emiko." I followed her to the table, and she poured me some tea. I looked and saw the twins, who were pouting, and Tamaki, who was curled up in a corner, growing mushrooms.

After about 5 minutes, I sighed, and said, "Excuse me, please, Haruhi." She nodded, and I went over to Tamaki, who was in his corner. "Hey, Tamaki? How about I request you a little bit later? I was just helping out Haruhi with her debt."

He jumped up and..._barked? _"Really?" he yelped. I nodded, and he grinned, grabbing me and forcing me into a bone-crushing hug. "You're the best imoto-chan ever!" he yelled.

"Can't breathe!" I gasped, and he let me go. I laughed, and smiled at him. "Thanks...onii-chan." He jumped up and down from excitement at being called my older brother. Smiling, I started to make my way back to the table, when a hand on my arm stopped me. I looked up and saw Kyouya.

"Thank you for coaxing Tamaki out of his corner. If he hadn't started to pay attention to his guests, then profits would start to go downhill," he informed me.

I smiled at him. "Glad to help, considering it was kinda my fault he was there in the first place." I laughed, picturing Tamaki growing the mushrooms.

Kyouya smiled his fake smile. "Well thank you anyway."

I rolled my eyes. "You know, that gets annoying real fast."

"Pardon?"

"That fake little smile that you do. Either smile for real, or don't smile at all. That's better than a fake one." Leaving him looking slightly stunned, I made my way back to Haruhi.

~..*..~

After the host club was done for the day, I was sitting aimlessly at a table, waiting for Haruhi so we could walk home together. The twins pranced up to me. Hikaru leaned down. "Hey, since you're here on a scholarship for music, can you sing?"

I blinked. "Yeah, I can sing, I just don't in front of people that often."

"Why not?" they asked simultaneouly.

I shrugged. "I just...don't, I guess."

"Will you sing for me?" Hunni asked, giving me the cutesy-eyes look. I felt my resolve breaking as I looked at him.

I tried to keep my resolve. "Well, I don't have a guitar, so I'm sor-" Kyouya produced a guitar out of nowhere. When I gaped at him, he smirked.

"It is a music room," he reminded me. I rolled my eyes and grabbed the guitar.

"Yayy, Emi-chan is going to sing for us!" Hunni cheered.

I sighed. "Don't act so happy about it," I muttered under my breath, as I checked to make sure the guitar was in tune. When I was satisfied, I quickly started the opening chords to one of my favorite songs.

"_Am I loud and clear  
>Or am I breaking up?<br>Am I still your charm  
>Or am I just bad luck?<br>Are we getting closer  
>Or are we just getting more lost?<em>

_I'll show you mine  
>If you show me yours first<br>Let's compare scars  
>I'll tell you whose is worse<br>__Let's unwrite these pages  
>And replace them with our own words<em>

_We live on front porches and swing life away  
>We get by just fine here on minimum wage<br>If love is a labor, I'll slave 'til the end  
>I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand<em>

_I've been here so long  
>Think that it's time to move<br>The winter's so cold  
>Summer's over too soon<br>Let's pack our bags and  
>Settle down where palm trees grow<em>

_I've got some friends_

_Some that I hardly know  
>We've had some times<br>I wouldn't trade for the world  
>We chase these days down with talks<br>Of the places that we will go_

_We live on front porches and swing life away  
>We get by just fine here on minimum wage<br>If love is a labor, I'll slave 'til the end  
>I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand<br>Until you hold my hand_

_I'll show you mine  
>If you show me yours first<br>Let's compare scars  
>I'll tell you whose is worse<br>And let's unwrite these pages  
>And replace them with our own words<em>

_We live on front porches and swing life away  
>We get by just fine here on minimum wage<br>If love is a labor, I'll slave 'til the end  
>I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand<em>

_Swing life away  
>Swing life away<br>Swing life away  
>Swing life away.<em>" I finished and looked up at everyone.

Tamaki, the twins, and Hunni were cheering. Mori nodded, smiling, and Haruhi grinned at me. "That was really good, Emiko!" she said. Kyouya was writing in his notebook, but he spared me and glance and nodded his head, smiling a bit. I suspected it was a true smile, and not the fake ones that I knew.

I grinned. "Thanks, you guys." I put the guitar down and stretched, glancing at my watch. I groaned. "Hey, I promised that I would call my mom before she went to work. Stupid time difference. Anyway, I need to go."

Haruhi nodded. "Let's go."

I went towards Kyouya's table to grab my bag and folder. He stood next to me as I picked up my bag. "Very nice performance."

I smiled up at him. "Thanks. It was nice to see you really smiling."

He shrugged. "Just merely trying to respect your wishes, like any good host." I rolled my eyes at him as I checked to make sure all my papers were in my folder. "Maybe we could use you in the club."

I stopped and looked at him. "Excuse me?"

He only smirked and pushed his glasses up on his face. I muttered under my breath and stalked to where Haruhi was standing by the door. We all said goodbye to the hosts and headed home. I smiled up at the sky. My life has been the best since I came to Japan, and I hoped it would stay that way.

A/N

The song that I used was Swing Life Away by Rise Against. Love that song 3 I will be exposing you all to my type of music, so stay tuned! Please review and tell me how you think! :)


	4. Chapter 4

A/N

Hey everybody! Here again for another chapter! Finals are finally over with, summer vacation, woohoo :D I'm now a sophmore, yay! What a weird thought. This year has gone by so fast...but all well, so on with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own OHSHC because Bisco Hatori owns it, but I do own my Ocs! :)

~The Thorn of a Rose~

Chapter 4

The next day at the host club, the twins begged me to play the guitar again. "Pleeeeeeease?" Hikaru and Kaoru begged in sync.

"No."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"

"No."

"But-"

"I said no!"

They got these evil looks on their faces. "Maybe we'll just make you by force."

I gulped. They meant business. I quickly turned and started to run out of the room, when Kyouya put a hand on my shoulder. I instinctively flinched away from the hand, gasping a bit. See, what happens are there are good days and bad days. Good days are when I can put all thoughts of Mark out of my mind and focus on being happy. I'm able to accept hugs and be touched by others. **[A/N Eww! Not in that way! Gosh get your mind out of the gutter xD]** Bad days are when the memories appear fresh in my mind, and just something as simple as touching my shoulder can result in unwanted memories popping up. This just so happened to be one of my bad days.

There was a slight silence. "Uh, gomen nasai, Kyouya," I said quickly, trying to cover up the awkward silence.

Tamaki, who had witnessed the scene, got that thoughtful and concerned look again. Kyouya's glasses flashed. "It's no problem. I was just going to mention that you should become the Host Club's Musical Performer."

Tamaki gasped with delight. "Yes! Imoto-chan should definitely join!"

He raced forward to give me a hug, but I flinched and gasped, "Don't touch me!" As Tamaki stopped mid-run, I bit my lip, feeling bad. He was looking concerned. "I-I'm sorry, Tamaki-senpai."

"Emi-chan, are you okay?" Hunni questioned, holding Usa-chan. Like the rest of the host club members, he looked worried and concerned.

"I'm fine," I quickly tried to assure him. "I'm just tired. I'll see you all later."

I leave the room quickly, hefting my bag up onto my shoulder. I felt really bad about what had happened, but I...I just couldn't bear with it. Not today.

Someone fell into step next to me. "It was about Mark, wasn't it?" Kyouya asked quietly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, not looking at him.

Kyouya stopped and stood in front of me. When he started to reach out a hand, I flinched. He stopped and looked at me. "Exactly my point. There's nothing wrong in trusting others, Emiko-san. We're not just a host club. As Tamaki ever so frequently reminds us, we are here to make all women happy. Including you."

"Thanks, but I'm fine. Well, I'll be seeing you," I said, starting to brush past him.

"Oh, and don't forget," Kyouya called. "You're our new Musical Peformer. Come to the host club immediately after school gets out, and be there on time." He smirked, pushing his glasses up. "Or I'll add to Haruhi's debt."

"Besa mi culo, puto," I muttered under my breath, mad. Yeah, I took Spanish for three years. I consider myself adequate in the arts of swearing in Spanish, as well as French, German, and Japanese, and obviously English. You could probably tell, I'm going places.

Kyouya's only response was a chuckle before I turned the corner out of his sight and earshot – and straight into a strange guy wearing a cloak with a cat doll.

I blinked. "Who're you?"

"_Fufufufufu. _I am Umehito Nekozawa, Leader of the Black Magic Club of Ouran. Would you care to join? You get a free Belzeneff doll~" the sketchy guy said.

"...Right. Thanks, but no thanks. I'm already involved in a club, unfortunately."

"You shouldn't underestimate the power of black magic. We can cast curses and read futures. Perhaps even help you with your situation..." Nekozawa said, waving that Belzeneff doll around.

"What do you mean?" I asked, instantly on guard.

"With your ex-boyfriend, of course. You know, he's not going to give up on you..."

I stared at him. "Who the hell do you think you are? How do you know this stuff?"

"I am only someone who wants to help," Nekozawa said calmly.

I took a shattering breath. "Don't tell anyone about what you know. Please," I begged. "I don't want them to worry."

He looked down at me. His eyes were a startling, beautiful shade of blue. He chuckled. "Alright I won't. It'll be our little secret~. Have a curse-filled day~" He chuckled evilly as he disappeared into the shadows. I took a deep breath, trying to get over the weirdness of that meeting, and started to head towards the front of the school.

Unbeknowest to me at that time, a tall boy with black hair calmly pushed his glasses up on his nose. Having heard everything between Nekozawa-senpai and Emiko, he began to walk back towards the club room, deep in thought.

~..*..~

I stared at the message on the screen of my cell phone. It was from Mark, of course. Who else could it be? It was a rather angry text, just saying the usual. You know, oh I love you, tell me where you are, it's not over between us, I'll fight to keep you, threats, etc. I pressed the delete button and tossed the phone on the couch. Muttering to myself, I walked over to my violin case and started warming up, getting ready to practice. After hearing me play, my orchestra teacher immediately gave me the first violin piece, with the solo. I was more than ecstatic at this point.

In the middle of practicing (with a lot of mistakes made), someone knocked on the door. I put the violin and bow down and walked over and opened the door. Haruhi was standing there. "Hey."

"Hey," I replied, stepping back to let her come in.

She came in and looked at the violin. "I heard you practicing. You're really good."

I gave a little laugh. "Oh, thanks. But I still have a lot to learn."

Haruhi looked at me. "Are you okay? After what happened in the club room?"

I froze. "I'm fine, I was just tired. Seriously, I'm fine."

Haruhi looked at me. "You're a good liar, but I can still tell that somethings wrong. Does it have to do with that old boyfriend of yours, Mark?" I stared at her, wanting to speak, but I couldn't. "Emiko, did he abuse you?" I looked down and gave a short nod. Haruhi gave a small intake of breath.

I looked at her. "Please, don't tell anyone. Please. I'll tell them all everything when I'm ready. I'll be fine. I just have good days and bad days, and today was just one of my bad." I gave her a small smile.

Haruhi smiled back. "Okay, fine. I won't. By the way, my dad will be working late. Do you want to come over for dinner?"

I grin. "I'd love to." I laughed. "When will I get to meet this famoso dad of yours?"

Haruhi looked confused. "What is famoso?"

I start laughing. "Sorry. I took Spanish for 3 years. It means famous. Sometimes it just slips out."

Haruhi shrugged. "Oh, okay. Well, I guess soon." I followed her out of my apartment and into hers next door.

~..*..~

The next morning I walked into the classroom with Haruhi. Hikaru and Kaoru were already there at their desks, laughing about something. They looked up as we came over. "Hey, Hikaru, Kaoru, I'm sorry about yesterday at the host club. I didn't mean to make you all upset. I just wasn't really feeling alright."

The next second they were hugging me, shaking their heads. "Kawaii!" they yelled, spinning me around.

I laughed. "Awww come on you guys, let me down."

"Nope~!" Kaoru sang.

"You're our toy~!" Hikaru added, also singing.

The teacher walked into the classroom and sweatdropped at the scene. "Hitachiins!" They let go of me and saluted the sensei.

"Sir yes sir!" they shouted. I fell over laughing, and Kaoru winked at me, grinning.

With Haruhi and the Hitachiins down, I just needed to apologize to the rest of the host club.

"Emi-chaaan~!" Hunni sang as he skipped up to me, Mori following him. I had already apologized to the two of them, and Hunni, after immediately forgiving me, had invited me for cake. Mori had smiled and put a hand on my head, which was his way of saying It's fine.

"Let's goo~!" he sang, taking my hand and tugging me over to the table. It was lunch period, and the host club was there, minus Kyouya. Hunni tugged me over to the seat on his left, and put a couple of cakes in front of me. "Which one would you like~?"

"Chocolate, duh!" I laughed.

Hunni squealed. "I love chocolate too! But I also like strawberry, coconut, lemon..." Aaaaand he was off. I'm pretty sure he was naming every cake that had been created, so I started to tune him out and start eating the chocolate cake.

Tamaki skipped over, tray of food in his hand. "Imoto-chan~! You're here~!" he sang.

I got up and hugged him, surprising him. "I'm sorry about yesterday, onii-san. I just wasn't feeling well."

He softened. "It's fine." He hugged me back, and I sat down again. He sat on my other side, and hesitated, looking at me. "Why didn't you want anyone to touch you?" he asked softly, so no one else could hear. **[A/N NOT MEANT IN THE PERVERTED WAY! GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER! xD]**

I hesitated, then decided against it. "Remind me to tell you some other time," I said.

He nodded, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I'm here for you, imoto-chan."

I smiled. "Thanks...onii-san." I continued eating my cake and chatting with everyone. Now there was only one person who I needed to apologize to. Speaking of him...

I looked around. "Where's Kyouya?" I asked.

"He said he had some stuff to do for the club," Tamaki replied before turning back to Haruhi, trying to convince her to try some of his fancy tuna. I grinned watching them, before turning away.

"Whatcha smiling about?" Hunni asked curiously.

"When do you think Tamaki is going to realize his feelings for Haruhi?" I murmured to him.

He shrugged, looking over at them, smiling. "Who knows? But when it does happen, I think that she might just accept him."

I also grin looking over at them. Someday...

~..*..~

After school, I went immediately to the clubroom. No one was there yet, not even Kyouya. Looking around, I rolled my eyes. "What was the point of him threatening me with Haruhi's debt if no one's going to be here, anyway," I muttered.

"It seems that all of your friends have ditched you~ Join the Black Magic Club~ We'll never leave you...~" a creepy voice said from behind me. I jumped, gasping.

"Whaaaa..." I turned around to see Nekozawa. He was standing right inside a door. I sweatdropped. "Has that door always been there...?"

He thrust Belzeneff forward. The puppet was rubbing its hands together. "You'll get a free tarot card reading as well as a free Belzeneff doll if you join now," Nekozawa coaxed.

Suddenly, a hand rested on my shoulder, pulling me gently away from him, and the twins stood in front of me, holding a flashlight. "EVIL BEAM...ACTIVATE!" they shouted and shined the flashlight into Nekozawa's face.

He _screamed. _"MURDERERS!" he sobbed, running into the door-that-was-not-there-before and slamming it closed.

I sweatdropped. "Ummm...thanks?" I asked.

They grinned and saluted me. "You're welcome!" they replied.

I looked up to see Kyouya. He pushed his glasses up on his face. "I'm glad to see that you're here on time," he said calmly.

"No, you're not, you money-grubbing miser," I muttered in English under my breath.

"What was that?" he asked in English.

I gulped. "Uh, nothing," I quickly said in Japanese.

He smirked. "That's what I thought," he replied, back to Japanese.

I sweatdropped as he walked away. _Damn. I should have expected the Shadow King to be able to speak English._

Sighing, I walked over and stood next to him as he was writing in his notebook. "Um, Kyouya?" I asked.

"Yes?" he inquired, not looking at me, continuing to write in his notebook.

"I'm sorry about what happened yesterday." He paused and looked at me. I continued. "I just wasn't feeling my greatest. It wasn't one of my good days. I apologize for my behavior."

He nodded. "Well, then I accept your apology." He was about to say something else, when my phone buzzed, and I quickly looked down and opened the message. When I saw it, my face paled. _Your friend Lia has just asked me out. Perhaps I should go out with her...I'll be sure to treat her exactly like I treated you...I'm sure you'd be happy with that. Come back to America and to me and I promise I'll leave her alone._

I stood, frozen, staring at the message. Distantly, I heard Kyouya talking to me. When I saw his hand reaching out to my phone I quickly pulled the phone away, and deleted the message. "Sorry! I just got sidetracked," I said, smiling shakily, still reeling over what he had said. Lia? No...I couldn't let her get the same treatment that I had.

Kyouya frowned, and when my phone buzzed again with another message from Mark, he quickly grabbed it out of my hand before I could react. "No! Kyouya don't read it!" I gasped as I tried to reach for it, but Tamaki gently put his hands on my shoulders. I watched fearfully as Kyouya opened it up and scanned the message. His frown quickly turned into a scowl, and I flinched as I was able to get a look at the message. _Damn it, bitch, get your fucking ass back to me before I hunt you down and kill you! _

I watched, my mouth dry, as Kyouya hit 'return call'. Mark answered on the first ring. "Emiko, if you do not tell me where you are then I will fucking-"

"Excuse me," Kyouya said icily in English. "I do not like being addressed in that manner."

There was a pause. "Who the hell is this?" Mark asked angrily.

"This is the current owner of this telephone number. I do not appreciate getting all of these threatening messages. I highly suggest you stop before I call the police to report you," Kyouya replied in the same icy tone.

I heard Mark taking a breath on the other end. "How long have you had this number?"

"I got it less than a week ago," Kyouya replied. Around the same time that I came to Japan. "I suggest that you don't call this number back ever again, if you value your life outside of jail." Kyouya hit the 'end' button and turned to me. His eyes were cold. They had always been carefully guarded, but now I noticed the coldness and anger in them. He tossed the phone down on the table and put his arms on my shoulders looking at me. "Why didn't tell us you were receiving threatening texts from your ex?" he asked. The hosts were all silent as they watched.

"I didn't want you all to worry," I replied softly. "I was going to tell you."

He gritted his teeth. "Exactly _when _did you plan on telling us?"

"When I was ready."

"How long would that have taken?"

I didn't answer. I suddenly became very interested in my feet. I heard him sigh irritably and take his hands off of my shoulders. "We _care _about you, Emiko. Do you think we enjoy hearing that you're getting threats from your ex?"

Tears started prickling my eyes. "I'm sorry," I whispered. There was a pause, and suddenly I was caught in the middle of a four-way hug between Tamaki, the twins, and Hunni.

"Aww Emiko-chaaan~!" they all sang, hugging me. I grimaced, feeling the urge to snap at them about personal space, but relented and accepted the hug.

I looked up at Kyouya, who looked away with an expressionless look on his face. He turned away. "Come on, now, the host club should be opening soon," he said in a deadpanned voice.

I was released from the hug, and everyone began to hurry around, getting ready. I watched all of them, and looked up when I felt someone put a hand on my arm. "Yeah?" I asked Kyouya.

"Please inform me if Mark ever tries to contact you again," he said.

I nodded. "Thank you, Kyouya."

He gave me a soft smile. "You're welcome." The smirk was back, making me wonder if I imagined the real smile on his face. He handed me a guitar. "I do believe you have a promise to keep, Musical Peformer." Still smirking, he walked away, a hand in his pocket, leaving me with the guitar.

"Schizenkoff," I muttered under my breath in a sour tone of voice, but secretly feeling joy. Hopefully this would be the last time that Mark would ever try to contact me. There was still the situation about Lia...if he was even telling the truth...

I sighed and filed that away in my brain for another day. Right now, I had music to perform.

A/N

Like it? Hate it? Have the urge to run around in circles screaming I'm a Goofy Goober? Good. Me too. xD Review and tell me what you think! Oh, by the by, the next chapter will go on with the storyline of the anime. I love both the manga and the anime, but I'm more familiar with the anime than the manga. Don't hate me because of this :'( another by the by: 'Schizenkoff ' is a German swear. I don't know if I spelled it right, but all well xD. And no, I won't tell you what that means, lazy! Get on Google Translate, will ya? xD


	5. Chapter 5

A/N

Back! And summer vacation has never been sweeter ^.^ loving it! Hahaha :) well, here is my story! And by the by, any song that Emiko sings will be in English, unless it has Romaji lyrics (don't know what Romaji is...forget it.) So's yes!

Disclaimer: Still don't own OHSHC...BUUUUUT I own my characters :D

~The Thorn of a Rose~

Chapter 5

I stared at my phone, debating. Should I...or should I not? Was it a trick...or was it real? Did Lia really harbor feelings for Mark? Did she really ask him out? I could see Mark making this up...but what if he wasn't? And what if she did go out with him, and end up the same way I did? No. I couldn't let that happen to anyone, especially Lia, one of my band geek friends.

I rapidly made my decision, pressing 'make call'. Trembling slightly, I held the phone up to my ear, listening to it ring. Finally, she picked up. "Mmmfghu?" she muttered, sounding like she was still mostly asleep.

I swallowed my laughter. "Lia? It's Emiko."

"Emiko?" Lia asked, sounding more awake. There was a crackling sound, and she groaned. "I'm supposed to get up for school in a half an hour! You know, I could be sleeping right now!"

I laughed at her disgruntled tone. "Sorry. It's not my fault about the time distance."

"So, what's up? Didja just call to chit-chat?" Lia asked.

I licked my lips nervously. Here came the hard part. "Not...entirely. Lia, did you ask Mark out?"

"What? Um, no! I...kinda...started to date James?"

I gasped, with relief and surprise. "WHAT? James Moore? SERIOUSLY?" I started laughing.

"Whaaaaaaat?" Lia asked indignantly. "He's pretty amazing!"

Still laughing, I said, "I know! But...you and James? No way!" I collapse again, laughing.

After a few more minutes of this, she asked seriously, "Emiko, why did you think I asked Mark out?" I hesitated. "Emi, I heard that you broke up with him. He's...he's been _scary. _I've never seen him like this before. He goes around...muttering awful things...he looks like he's about to kill someone. He's also checking his phone. Has he..._always _been like this?" Disbelief colored her tone. I felt a rush of sympathy towards her. She had never known this side of Mark, luckily. I swallowed.

"...Yes. I didn't know this or I would have never started dating him. He...he's been trying to get me back. He said that you...asked him out, and that he would give you the same treatment that he gave me...I got so worried for you, Lia."

Her voice was dead serious. "Emiko, Mark abused you, didn't he?"

"...Yes."

"...WE HAVE BEEN SO FREAKIN' CLUELESS! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!"

"Lia! Calm down!"

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CALM DOWN IF I LEARNED HOW CLUELESS I AM THAT MY BESTEST BAND GEEK BUDDY HAS BEEN HIT AND PUNCHED AND WHO KNOWS WHAT BY HER BOYFRIEND AND I DID NOT KNOW? EMIKO I'M SO SORRY!"

"BANANAS!" I yelled.

There was silence. "Sorry, I went too far, didn't I?" Lia asked sheepishly. **[A/N Band geeks are the best! Gotta love them! I am one so of course I'm amazing! xD]**

"Yea. Just a bit."

"But, omigod! Emi, I'm so sorry! We should have put it together, the way you stopped hanging out around us, the bruises, that sad look that you got...We have been absolutely HORRIBLE friends. Can you ever forgive us?" Lia begged.

I smiled. "Of course. I should go practice. I got the leading violin part with a solo!"

"No way! What piece?"

"Pachebel's Canon in D."

"OMIGOD! I love that piece!"

"Cha. So I'll talk to you soon?"

"You better! Bye, Emi!"

"Hey, wait. Do me a favor and never say a word to Mark about my number. He kept threatening me, so one of my friends called him from my phone tricking him into thinking that I changed numbers."

"Of course! Talk to ya later!"

"Bye!"

I clicked my phone shut, and stared at it, a smile breaking over my face. Lia was safe and happily in a relationship with another band geek, James, who played percussion **[A/N THE best section in the band, because I play in it xD]**. Mark's real character was starting to come out, and people were noticing. I was going to be close with my friends again, and Mark wouldn't be able to contact me again. Life...was...good.

~..*..~

"Start again, from measure 32," Ogawa-sensei, my orchestra teacher, called, tapping his baton against the stand. He raised the baton again, and we all started. I concentrated, dragging the bow across the strings, letting the sound ring out before moving it again. Around me, other violinists were plucking at the strings. I grimaced as I made a mistake but kept going.

We kept going until measure 51. Ogawa-sensei stopped us, and concluded the lesson. "I expect to see you all two days from now, ready to practice!" he called. We all started to pick up our instruments.

Raiden, who played cello, wandered over to where I was busy rearranging my sheet music. "Hey, Emiko," he said cheerfully. I looked up and smiled.

"Hi, Raiden. What's up?"

"Nothing much. I just wanted to compliment you on your solo. It sounds really good so far!"

I laughed slightly. "Thanks, but I still have a long way to go on it."

"Well, good luck on it, then," he said cheerfully.

I smiled. "Thanks! You, too." I cheerfully finished packing up and made my way out of the school, chatting with Raiden the whole way. Once we were out of the school, I was suddenly grabbed from both sides.

"Target..."

"Captured," two horribly familiar voices said, with similar Cheshire cat grins on their faces.

I gulped. "Whaaaa?"

"What's going on...?" Raiden asked, sweatdropping.

A limo rolled up and the window rolled down, revealing Tamaki wearing a Hawaiin shirt, a lei, and in sunglasses. "Good work! Now throw her in, let's go!" Tamaki rolled the window up again, and the twins grinned evilly.

"Where are you taking me?" I yelled as another limo pulled up and I was thrown in, leaving Raiden looking horrified and terribly confused.

_Kidnapped...? _He thought, sweatdropping.

~..*..~

"Question: What am I doing here, exactly?" I asked, staring around at the water park.

"You are here to simply enjoy yourself. This water park is owned by my family, and you have been allowed into enjoy it," Kyouya said from behind me. I turned around to see him in a Hawaiin shirt similar to Tamaki's, reading a book. He looked at me over his glasses and gave me a fake smile. "Please, use our facility at your discretion."

"Hey, what did I tell you about that fake smile of yours?" I asked irritably. Kyouya sent me a dark look. "And come on, I'd rather be home practicing."

"I know what you mean. I have a pile of homework and laundry to do," Haruhi muttered from next to me, picking at her yellow hoodie.

I was wearing a thin, zip-up black jacket with shorts. As soon as Haruhi and I had come out of the changing rooms, we were wearing swimsuits that those evil maid dopplegangers forced on us. Tamaki had gone all red as soon as he saw Haruhi, and he made us wear these over it, something about 'not showing that much skin until after you're married'. I really didn't care, because I didn't know if I wanted to be here.

"Haru-chan! Emi-chaaan!" Hunni called, running up to us in a pink bunny float. I looked over and grinned, he just looked so cute. "Want to come swimming with us?" he called.

"Sure!" I said, deciding that if I had to be here, I'd just make the best out of it. I unzipped my jacket, revealing my black bikini underneath, and tossed it onto Kyouya with much delight. When he glared at me, tearing the jacket away from him and throwing it onto the ground, I gave him a wave and an impish grin before I ran with Hunni to the edge of the pool. "CANNONBALL!" I yelled and jumped, scrunching up my body into a ball. I created a huge splash, and came up gasping for air. I started laughing.

"Wow, Emi-chan, that was a huge splash!" Hunni said.

I grinned. "Yep!" I swam around for a while, while Mori and Hunni were swimming. Mori was swimming against the current and I grinned at how cute they were.

I watched everyone having a good time, and I pulled myself up out of the water and toward Kyouya. He was sitting in a chair and writing in his notebook. I sat at the end of the chair, and he looked up. "Yes?"

"Why are you sitting here being a loner? Come on, let's go swimming!" I said.

"No thank you," he replied in a disinterested voice.

"Awww, come on, you're no fun. Pleeeeeeease?" I begged, giving him a pouting look.

He looked up at me and smirked. "That isn't going to work on me, Emiko."

I gave him a glare and threw my hands up dramatically. "Fine. I give up." I stalked back towards the water. "Shadow King," I muttered under my breath.

I joined Hunni back in the water. Mori had taken a break, and so Hunni and I started having a splash war. The twins and Tamaki were engaged in a squirtgun fight, when I noticed Tamaki getting knocked into a totem pole. It started to light up ominously. I heard a rumbling and looked up to see a huge wave heading right for me and Hunni!

I yelled with surprise as the wave engulfed us, and I felt Hunni grab onto me before I went under, getting dragged away by the current. The few times I managed to surface, I gasped for air before getting dragged under again. Finally, after what seemed like hours we washed up on the shore. I groaned, gasping from breath. Hunni knelt down next to me. "Emi-chan, are you okay?" he asked urgently.

I winced as I stood, breathing hard. "Yeah. I'm fine, I think. Just a little winded." I looked around with Hunni. "Where are we?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, but come on! Let's get back to the others, kay?"

I nodded and started to follow him. For reasons unknown to me, he seemed to know where he was going. When it started to pour, we took refuge under a large tree. I shivered, starting to grow cold. I was in nothing but a bikini, after all.

After the rain past, we continued on, with Hunni assuring me we'd be okay. Suddenly, Hunni stiffened, and said, "Stay right here, kay?"

"But-" Before I could protest, Hunni jumped into the tree above us and grabbed hold of a vine, and swung out of sight, emitting a Tarzan sound. I sighed, but sat down on the damp tree root, shivering. Strange bird calls echoed throughout the trees. After sitting there for a little bit, I groaned and put my head in my heads. "I knew I should have stayed home."

"But you would have missed all the fun," a familiar voice said. I looked up to see Kyouya standing in front of me, relief filling his eyes before he turned his face so the light reflected off the frames of the glasses.

I stood up and walked to where he was standing. "I'm not sure I would call this fun," I remarked dryly.

He looked at me. "You just can't seem to stop make us worrying, can you."

"What?"

"Do you know how worried everyone was, especially Tamaki?"

"It wasn't exactly my fault, you know. If you want to blame someone, blame that baka for crashing into the totem pole in the first place."

He shook his head at me, and grabbed me, pulling me against his chest. "You idiot," he muttered, hugging me.

I felt shocked. What was he doing? Why is he...Did he...I started to blush. "Sorry?"

He quickly let go of me and turned away, barriers in place once more. "Come on, we should get back to the others so you can get changed. You must be freezing."

I rolled my eyes. "Just a tiny bit," I said sarcastically, still thinking over that hug. Sure, everyone else in the host club had given me hugs before, but Kyouya was different. He was...unreachable. He put up barriers to keep other people out, but yet here he was, worried for me. What merit did he get from me?

Or maybe...

As we walked back towards the others, I thought over that possibility in my head. He cared about me, but then again he cared about everyone in the host club...didn't he? Or did he stay with them for merit? I shook my head, too confused, and put all thoughts out of my head. I was too tired to think about that now.

"You're okay!" the twins cheered as we arrived. I smiled at them, shivering with exhaustion, as I was attacked by hugs from the twins.

There was a huge rumbling sound, and the twins were pushed to the side as Tamaki appeared. "IMOTO-CHAN!" he screamed, grabbing me and pulling me into a huge hug. "YOU'RE OKAY!"

"Onii-san," I complained. "Put me down."

"Tamaki is a pervert~ Tamaki is a pervert~" the twins chanted, dancing around Tamaki.

"I am not a pervert!" Tamaki yelled at them, but the twins kept chanting.

I groaned. "I wanna go home."

"Yea, me too," Haruhi grumbled.

Mori nodded, and motioned for us to follow him and Hunni. Kyouya, Haruhi, Mori, Hunni, and I started walking to the exit leaving the twins and Tamaki to their little game. Presently, we heard yelling as they hurried to catch up with us.

When we got back to the main part of the park, I grabbed my abandoned jacket and shorts and quickly put them back on. Kyouya handed me a towel which I gratefully accepted. Soon afterwards, we all headed towards the entrance of the park.

I climbed into the limo, sitting next to Haruhi. Kyouya scooted over to sit next to me, with the twins and the two seniors sitting across from us. Tamaki was sitting on Haruhi's side. Haruhi and the twins were talking. "We should go to the beach next," Haruhi said.

"I'd like that. I miss the ocean. Living in Maine, I used to see it all the time," I said. Everyone started talking about random things among themselves.

"That was fun," I said drowsily to no one in particular.

"Even though you almost drowned?" Kyouya murmured to me.

"Except for that part," I said, leaning back and closing my eyes.

I could just imagine him smirking. "Of course."

"Shut up," I said automatically in English.

"I can speak English, you know," Kyouya said in English.

"I know. I'm just too tired to speak Japanese right now." I could feel myself falling asleep.

"Sleep well," Kyouya said so quietly that I could have imagined it. I felt the darkness rushing to me, and I gratefully fell asleep.

~..*..~

I felt like I was being carried up some stairs. I could hear something that sounded like a door unlocking, and then I felt warmth as the person carried me inside. I felt myself being set down on a soft, warm bed with a blanket being pulled over me. I felt a cool pair of lips brush my forehead, and an oh-so-familiar voice murmured, "Good night, Emiko." I could hear his footsteps leave the room, and I sank back into deeper unconsciousness.

A/N

Yayy it's done :) having no school has been amazing :) I've taken up an oath to try to write a chapter a day! Pleeeeeeease review and you will get a pirate turtle. Limited time offer only! xD


	6. Chapter 6

A/N

Hiya! Bet that all of ya missed me! Thanks so much to everyone that reviewed! I'm so glad that you all like the story :D Chinese tacos to all of ya! :3 On with the story!

Disclaimer: Still am not in ownership of OHSHC...but still own the Ocs... :D

~The Thorn of a Rose~

Chapter 6

"So, what exactly happened yesterday?" Raiden inquired as we passed out algebra worksheets to everyone. It was math class, and Raiden, the twins, and Haruhi were in my class. The twins were being their usual selves and were trying to annoy Haruhi. I smiled at the three of them before turning to Raiden.

"It's just my friends wanting to take me to a water park, and they went a little overboard," I told him, rolling my eyes.

He laughed. "Wow, you have some weird friends."

"You're telling me?" I muttered, but smiled nonetheless.

Someone put their arms around my neck, and someone else put them around my waist, pulling me to them. "Aww, Emiko," Hikaru purred in my ear.

"Was that a compliment or an insult?" Kaoru purred in my other ear.

I rolled my eyes. "Figure it out for yourselves," I said bluntly and passed the last paper out. I looked up at them. "You know, I can't really walk with you guys hanging onto me like that."

"It's okay! We'll help!" the twins chorused, and the next second I was picked up and held in the air as I raced back to my seat.

"Put me down!" I yelled, laughing. Those crazy fangirls started swooning, and I rolled my eyes.

"Hitachiins! Please settle down!" the math teacher scolded. She was a no-nonsense, old-school teacher with pinched lips and a sour complexion.

The twins saluted her, still holding onto me. "Sir yes sir!" they yelled.

The fangirls sighed. "Oh, I love it when they use English honorifics," one of the them said dreamily, and the other girls nodded in agreement.

Hikaru and Kaoru put me down in my seat. "Your fans are crazy," I muttered to them.

"We know. It's part of the job description to deal with them," they said back, and looked back at the fangirls, winking at them. They all started shrieking and swooning.

"SETTLE DOWN!" the teacher yelled. Haruhi and I sweatdropped.

~..*..~

I was wandering aimlessly through the halls, heading towards the cafeteria. The twins had grabbed Haruhi and gone on ahead, something about 'commoner food' or whatever. I didn't really care, because I treasured the few moments of peace and quiet before I had to delve into the craziness of the host club again.

I felt a coldness, and I looked over to see Nekozawa being a creeper behind the pillars, muttering to himself. There was no one else in the hallway. I hesitated, before walking over to him. "Nekozawa-senpai? I want to apologize for the way my friends treated you the other day."

He looked up, the bright blue of his eyes coming out again. He smiled that creepy little smile at me. "I accept your apology~ I apologize for trying to push you into joining the Black Magic Club~ Perhaps I was too forward..."

I laughed. "No, it's fine. I just have three clubs that I'm already in, the Classical Music Club, the Orchestra, and now the Host Club. It's just that I'm too busy. I'm sorry."

"It's quite alright~" His blue eyes pierced me. "Has your ex been giving you any trouble?"

I hesitated. "He was threatening me via text...But Kyouya saw and took care of it. I haven't heard from him since." I grinned. "Thanks for asking. It means a lot to me."

Nekozawa smiled. "It's our pleasure," he said, sticking Belzeneff into my face. "Belzeneff and I are glad to hear that you're alright."

"There you are, imoto-chan! Kyouya sent me to go- EEEEP!" Tamaki screamed when he saw Nekozawa. He immediately tried to grab me and tugged me away from Nekozawa. "NO EMIKO DON'T GO TO THE DARKNESS!" he screamed.

"TAMAKI!" I yelled. "Calm down! I'm not going to the darkness, and there's nothing wrong with Nekozawa, okay? He's a pretty cool guy." Belzeneff did the blush and the rubbing his hand on the back of his head thingy.

I look at Nekozawa. "Sorry about that. I better get this baka back to the others. See ya later, Nekozawa-senpai!" I walked away, with Tamaki hanging off of me, scolding me for talking to Nekozawa.

"Mommy! Imoto-chan was talking to Nekozawa-senpai again! Punish her!" Tamaki wailed as we arrived at the table, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Who's Mommy?" I asked, puzzled.

"Oh, that's Kyo-chan," Hunni said, eating some cake.

I stared at Hunni for a moment, then burst out laughing. "_Seriously?_"

Kyouya pushed his glasses up and glared at me. I tried to hold in my laughter. "Sorry..._Mommy!"_ Aaaaand I was off again.

"Breathe, Emi-chan! We believe in you!" Hunni cried.

I hiccuped, finally getting my laughter under control. "Sorry everyone," I said, wiping away tears of mirth. I looked at Kyouya. "Sorry..._Mommy._" I began to laugh again, until there was a _thwack!_

"Heyyy!" I cried indignantly, giving Kyouya a glare, rubbing my head. "No need to get violent with that notebook of yours! What do you write in there, anyway?"

He smirked. "Oh, this and that." I sweatdropped, and we all sat down to eat.

"What were you and Nekozawa-senpai talking about?" Kaoru asked in interest.

I shrugged. "We were just chatting. I apologized to him about how you guys treated him the other day." I gave everyone a meaningful look.

Hikaru and Kaoru chuckled in embarrasment. "Eheheh, yeah..."

I rolled my eyes and smiled as we continued eating.

~..*..~

"Emi-chaaan!" Hunni cried as I entered the host club. "Guess what!"

"What?"

"We're going to the beach!"

I grinned. "Seriously?"

"Yep!" Hunni cried. Mori nodded.

"Yayyy!" I said, excited.

"Time to pick a swimsuit!" the twins yelled and grabbed me, dragging me over to where they had over a hundred mannequins, all dressed up in different swimsuits.

Hunni tried to get me to dress in a pink frilly one, which I immediately shot down. I wasn't too fond of pink, frilly stuff. The twins went through swimsuit after swimsuit, before we finally decided on a two piece. It looked like a one piece, but it was really two pieces. It was over all white, but it had blue and light green and gold splashes on it. It tied around my neck. The bottoms were an aqua-blue shorts with a skirt part over it. I loved it at first sight. The twins found a polka-dot towel that went with the splashes of color.

"Awww you'll look so cute, Emi-chan!" Hunni squealed.

I laughed. "Aww, thanks Hunni-senpai! I can't wait!" I noticed out of the corner of my eye, Kyouya started to smirk. What was he up to _now?_

~..*..~

"So, why'd we come to Okinawa?" the twins asked, sweatdropping.

"Because Kyouya's family owns a private beach here," Tamaki explained.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Hunni exclaimed.

"But why couldn't we have gone..." the twins began.

"To the Caribbean?" Hikaru asked.

"Or even Fiji," Kaoru added.

"Do you think a commoner like Haruhi has a passport?" Kyouya asked in disinterest.

I sweatdropped. "That's not very nice, you know..."

"You do realize I can hear what you're saying, right?" Haruhi asked crossly.

I looked around. It was really pretty here. It felt so good to be at the ocean again. I didn't realize how much I had missed it. Some of my best memories had happened at the beach. I smiled fondly as I remembered the time our marching band had spent the day at the beach to celebrate getting a gold medal at finals. There was also the time that I went with Mark. That was the day that he asked me out. I had been so unbelievably happy that day... That was the day that I also had my first kiss. It had been after he confessed to me and I accepted him. I believe that one of my friends had taken a picture of us. I smiled fondly, and felt a pang. Wait...a...second. Was I..._missing _Mark? But, after everything that he had done to me! After all the punches, bruises, black eyes, even a broken arm! After everything...I still loved him. All he ever did was mess with my feelings...making me fall for him, hard. A part of me was still in love with him, and I began to hate myself for it. How could I still have feelings for a monster like that?

I shook myself out of it and looked around. Tamaki was entertaining the ladies out on a rock overlooking the sea. Hikaru and Kaoru were playing a volleyball game, while Hunni and Mori were doing some sort of stretches with the girls. Kyouya was monitoring the girls' alone time with Tamaki. _Money-grubbing, no good, evil miser. _

"Uhh...whyyy?" Haruhi muttered from next to me on the towel. We were sitting on a beach on a towel with an unbrella over us. She was wearing guys shorts and a t-shirt. "This sucks. I thought that going to the beach meant a day off," she said crossly.

"I feel for ya, Haruhi," I said sympathetically, glad that I didn't owe the Host Club anything...yet. I just hoped that Kyouya didn't make me do karaoke or anything later...I hadn't sang in front of the ladies yet, just played background music.

"Um, Haruhi?" a timid girl's voice asked from behind us. We turned around to see three girls in swimsuits.

"Aren't you going to go swimming with us?" one girl asked.

"Oh, uh, I like looking at the sea from a safe distance," Haruhi said.

"If you're not going to swim do you mind if we sat here and talked with you?" another girl asked.

Haruhi immediately went into cute-host mode. "But why? You girls should go swim. You have cute swimsuits on. Why not show them off?"

The girls almost fainted. I swear minature hearts appeared above their heads. "You're on your own," I muttered to Haruhi and left to where Tamaki and the others were sitting in chairs.

"I can't believe he fooled us," Hikaru said while picking up the beach ball.

"Who would have thought he'd bring the ladies with us?" Kaoru added.

"We certainly didn't expect it," Hikaru agreed.

I suddenly remembered that smirk that he had on his face when we were planning it all out. _So that's what he was planning...Shadow King._

In a cool voice, Kyouya said, "You were invited on an all-expenses paid vacation for a reason, and that reason is to keep our clients entertained."

"We know," Hikaru muttered. "But with the ladies here-"

"Haruhi can't change into her swimsuit!" Kaoru finished.

"Don't worry, I've got it all under control," Tamaki said confidently from a lounge chair on Kyouya's left. "My little angel shouldn't be prancing around in a swimsuit, at least not in front of two perverts like you." He started to get this dreamy look in his eye.

I sweatdropped. "I don't want to know what he's thinking..."

"Yeah..." the twins agreed, also sweatdropping.

Suddenly, Tamaki's face got all red. "It'll happen just like that the greatest day of my life! I don't know if I can handle it!" Tamaki squealed.

I noticed Kyouya start to walk away and I followed him, wanting to get away from that pervert. "What's the matter with Tamaki? Is he having a seizure?" I heard one of the fangirls ask in alarm.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Hikaru said.

"He gets like this occasionally," Kaoru explained.

Kyouya paused when he realized I was following him, and waited until I caught up to keep walking again. "I really don't want to know what goes on in Tamaki's mind," I muttered.

"I have a pretty good idea," Kyouya replied in that disinterested tone of voice.

"You know, it's not a crime to show some emotion," I told him.

"You could also argue that showing no emotion is an emotion upon itself," he pointed out.

I went quiet, mentally wrestling with that theory. I heard him chuckle, and I looked up to see a smirk on his face. I glared at him. "Burro."

"Your extensive vocabulary often amazes me, my dear."

"I will take that as a compliment."

"It wasn't meant as one."

"I really don't care."

"You've slipped back into English."

"What?"

"You're speaking in English."

I blushed because, as usual, he was right, of course. "Gomen nasai. It happens sometimes," I said in Japanese.

"I couldn't tell," he teased, also switching back to Japanese.

"Blehh. Just leave me alone," I groaned.

"You're the one that followed me."

"Yeah. Fine. Bye." I turned to leave. He snagged my arm.

"Where are you going?"

"Back to hang out with someone sane."

"I don't think you'll find anyone 'sane' here."

"What about Haruhi?" He went quiet. I grinned. "Win."

There was a rumbling sound, and I looked up, alarmed. Kyouya chuckled. "What's that?" I asked.

"Come and find out," he replied, sending me a smirk. I rolled my eyes but followed him around a cropping of rocks, my curiosity getting the better of me.

A truck with a picture of Kyouya on the back was there, and the Ootori's private police force was there. They bowed towards Kyouya. "Ootori-sama. We wanted to make it up to Mitsukuni Hanninozuka-sama for attacking him at the water park. We wanted to express our deepest apologies, so we brought shellfish."

Kyouya gave him one of his famous fake-smiles. "Of course. I'm sure that Hunni-senpai will deeply appreciate that." The private police force all bowed again and started unloading pink buckets full of shellfish out of the truck. I sweatdropped.

"Yeah. I'm going to find someone sane," I muttered, turning away. Kyouya glanced at me with amused smirk and I once again stuck my tongue out at him. He chuckled but didn't say anything else as I wandered off.

~..*..~

I joined the host club later as they were discussing something, minus Haruhi. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"We've decided to play a game! It's called Who Can Guess Haruhi's Weakness Game!" Tamaki explained happily.

I sweatdropped. "Why would you want to play a game like that...?" No one bothered to answer me.

"And, to make the game more interesting, I have something for the winner," Kyouya said, pulling out pictures of Haruhi in middle school.

While Tamaki started to flip out at him, Hunni asked, "Wait, Kyo-chan, where did you get those pictures?"

"I have more sources," he replied smirking. The group decided to disperse after that comment. I looked at Kyouya.

"Aaaaaand you just happened to have those pictures on you? Sometimes, my friend, I think you're as perverted as Tamaki or the twins." I said the last part under my breath in Spanish, hoping that he couldn't speak Spanish.

He gave me a smirk that was definitely classified as insidiously evil. "If I was that perverted, my dear, I believe you'd know."

I gaped at him. "I thought you didn't speak Spanish!"

His smirk grew wider. "I don't."

That's when I decided to make my exit. _Mind reader..._

~..*..~

That day consisted of everyone trying to figure out Haruhi's weakness. Tamaki and the twins tried ghosts, Hunni with claustraphobia, Mori with fear of sharp objects. Bugs didn't work because she didn't mind a centipede, which is actually what started this whole thing. She wasn't scared of any of it. I rolled my eyes to myself as I watched those idiots. Why would they want to play a game like this?

Later, I was wandering with Haruhi on beach. She was ecstatically collecting shellfish, calling them 'side dishes' and all that.

"Hey Haruhi!" we heard some girls call. "Look at us!"

We looked up to see some of the girls on top of a cliff-rock-thingy. **[A/N Anyone know the name for something like that...?] **"Be careful, it could be dangerous up there," Haruhi called sounding worried.

"I'll go with them," I told her and started hurrying towards the cliff. I don't know if Haruhi was following me or not. I heard someone walking behind me as I hurried so I assumed it was Haruhi. I got to the top to hear one of the girls say, "Wow this is an amazing view!"

I smile and come up behind them. "Yea, it is."

They all turned and smiled at me. "This weekend has been so fantastic so far~!"

I grinned and was about to say something, when a rough voice from behind us said, "Hey, man, there are chicks up here!" I froze and turned my head sharply. Behind us, walking up the pathway, were two heavily drunken guys. I stiffened and stood in front of the girls. "This is a private beach. You two need to leave. Now."

He reached forward and grabbed my arm and tugged me towards him. "Oh yea? And who's going to stop us? You?"

The other guy grabbed the other girls grinning. Using my free hand, I punched him awkwardly with my left hand on the side of the head. "Leave us alone! Leave now!"

He glared at me and with hate and grabbed my other arm tugging me towards him. I heard the other girls whimpering with fear and the background, and I struggled against my captor, trying to get free. Suddenly, with a yelp, he let me go, and I fell to the ground. I saw Haruhi in the background, carrying a pail. She had hurled shellfish onto the guy. "Why don't you just let them go and leave them alone?" she yelled.

"Haruhi!" one of the girls said, her eyes lighting up at the thought that Haruhi was going to save her. I quickly got up, ignoring some painful spots. I was going to have bruises there in the morning. I ran towards the other guy and hit him hard in the face. He let go of the girls, gasping with pain.

"Go! Go get the host club!" I yelled at them, and they nodded and ran off. The guy glared at me and grabbed me, twisting my arms behind my back. I gritted my teeth, and started to fight back. I didn't have any experience in self-protection. I was going to take classes but Mark shot that down. He said that there was no need, that he could protect me.

Mark...

This whole thing was bringing back a sense of deja vu, much more than I cared to admit. I made a mental note that if I ever survived this, I would take up martial arts classes.

The other guy had Haruhi by the shirt, taunting him. Then he did something, a sight that would stick with me for the rest of my life.

He tossed Haruhi off the cliff.

I froze, and yelled. "HARUHI!" I kicked my guy in the shin, and he gasped with pain. The first guy grabbed me out of that guys grip and said, "You can join him!"

I heard familiar voices from behind me yell, "EMIKO!", but I was gone. I was sailing through the air, getting closer and closer to the ocean. I hit it, causing a large splash that made my vision go black as I was steadily pulled under by the waves.

A/N

I'm so sorry, don't hate me for ending it like this! It was already so long, and there was something else that's going to happen before this is over, so please don't hate me for ending it on a cliffhanger D:

And I promise you, the next couple of chapters will actually have her doing her Musical Performer stuff *slaps hand to head when realizing I've been neglecting this important aspect in the story*

Review, and you get a chinese taco :)

until next time...

BY THE BY: What do yall think of a friendship between her and Nekozawa? Like it? Hate it? Want a Belzeneff doll? Good. So do I. Mata ashita!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N

Gahhh! I'm so sorry about yesterday! I've been trying to do a chapter a day, I was falling asleep last night, and I still had a couple of things I wanted to do before I wrapped up their trip to the beach! Please don't hate me D:

Thanks so much to everyone that reviewed! It means a lot to me! Also, thanks to one of my reviewers, I have a great idea that will happen later involving Kasanoda and Emiko's demon ex xD And for those of you that are anxious for Mark to come, you're going to have to wait for a couple chapters...he will come when you least expect it...(insert manaic evil laughter here)

I have babbled for too long now. On with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own OHSHC because I couldn't pay the fee that Kyouya put on it...But I am allowed my own Ocs :)

~The Thorn of a Rose~

Chapter 7

I blinked open my eyes. My entire body felt sore, and I could feel a couple of tender spots where there was sure to be bruises forming. There was a shirt wrapped around me, and I tugged it closer. The glow of the setting sun illuminated the beach and the seven people standing in front. I started to sit up, but the person in glasses kneeling down beside me gently pushed me down again. "What happened?" I asked groggily in English.

"You were thrown off a cliff," the person in glasses deadpanned in English, his glasses glinted in the dying sunlight. He seemed to be drenched, as if he jumped in the ocean. Memories came crashing back to me, and I stiffened.

I switched back to Japanese. "Oh, my god. Is Haruhi alright? And the girls? What happened to the guys? Why are you all wet?" I would have said more, but Kyouya put a couple of fingers over my lips, silencing me.

"Hush. Tamaki is bring Haruhi now. The girls are fine. As for the guys, we took their IDs and respectfully asked them to leave." I had a feeling that he was leaving some things out in that story, but I didn't pry. I started to stand up again, but Kyouya pushed me down again. "We don't know what your injuries are."

"I'm fine, Kyouya-senpai," I said. He hesitated and allowed me to stand up.

"Haru-chan!" Hunni cried in a worried tone, and we turned around to see Tamaki carrying Haruhi out of the water.

"Boss!" the twins called.

Tamaki brought Haruhi over, and Kyouya put a shirt over her. "Where'd they go?" Tamaki asked in a serious voice.

"We took their ID cards and respectfully asked them to leave," Kyouya said in an almost..._scary _voice. "The girls all went back to the hotel, and I've called a doctor. He should be arriving here soon," Kyouya continued.

"Thank you," Tamaki murmured.

"I'm fine, you guys. I don't need a doctor," Haruhi said as Tamaki set her down.

Kyouya put a shirt around her as well. Tamaki grabbed her by the shoulders. "What were you thinking?" he asked quietly. "You too, Emiko. You know, you guys aren't like Hunni-senpai. You're not a martial arts master." We looked at him. He was almost shaking with anger. "What made you confront them? What made you think you could stand a chance? You both against two boys?"

"But it doesn't matter that they were guys and we're girls," Haruhi retorted. "We were there, we had to do something."

"We sent the girls for help, but we had to intervene or else they would have been hurt," I added.

"That's no excuse, you idiot!" Tamaki yelled. "Don't forget, you both are girls!"

"Look, I'm sorry you had to come and save me, senpai. But I don't understand why you're so mad right now," Haruhi said flatly.

"We only wanted to help those girls. I don't regret what I did," I said.

He turned away. "You don't? Fine. Whatever you say. But I won't talk to you both until you can admit that you're wrong!" Haruhi glared at him, and I looked at her. Tamaki was mostly worried about Haruhi. He was too daft to realize his feelings for her weren't like father/daughter, but something else. I could see where he was coming from, though. If she had been hurt...I was used to this kind of treatment. Well, maybe not being thrown off cliffs, but punches and stuff I was used to. I was just so glad that Haruhi wasn't hurt.

~..*..~

Dinner that night was very awkward, to say the least. I sat between the twins, across from Haruhi. Kaoru was to my left, with Kyouya on the other side of him. Hikaru was to my right, while Tamaki was across from him. Hunni and Mori were across from Kyouya and Kaoru.

I rolled my eyes at Tamaki. He was already cracking. If he was smart he wouldn't have sat next to her...But this is Tamaki we're talking about. Because of all the shellfish that Haruhi and Hunni had caught earlier that day, we had plenty for dinner. Haruhi and Tamaki started bickering, and Haruhi ate crab after crab...It kind of made me not hungry.

Finally, Tamaki had enough. He stood up, glaring down at Haruhi. "Okay, fine. I get it. It seems that you refuse to accept that you were wrong. I'm going to bed. Kyouya, could you show me to my room, please?"

"Sure thing," Kyouya deadpanned and stood up. "Please excuse me," he said to all of us before walking out with Tamaki.

Haruhi hesitated and put the crab down. "Maybe he's right. Maybe I do need to find a way to protect myself," she muttered to everyone.

"So that's it. He got to you," the twins said.

"I know I am. I would have already if it wasn't for Mark," I told her.

Hikaru shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt to know how to defend yourself."

"But it's not like we're going to force you to learn it," Kaoru added.

"Besides, that's not the real issue here," the twins said.

"To be honest, we were all a little worried about how recklessly you both acted," Hikaru said, looking at us.

Haruhi looked puzzled. "But...what do you mean? I didn't cause you guys any trouble, did I?"

I put my head in my hands. _She's hopeless... _The twins looked at each other in exasperation.

"That's not true, Haru-chan," Hunni piped up. "I think you and Emi-chan should apologize, 'kay?" He gave us a sweet, adorable look. "You guys made us all worry, especially Tama-chan. I think you need to apologize to him the most."

Haruhi looked shocked. "You...were worried about me? Why?"

We all groaned. "You're hopeless," the twins informed her.

"Guys, I'm really sorry," she said quietly.

"Me, too," I added.

The next second we were caught in a four-way hug, the twins nuzzling our necks. "Awwww!" they all were saying. Except for Mori. He, being the amazing person he is, was just eating crab in the background.

I escaped from the hug, and headed out of the dininghall, searching for my room. I had put my stuff down in my room already, but I just couldn't remember where my room was. _Damn these rich people for having so many rooms. _

I tried my luck and opened a random door. It lead to what looked like a closet. I continued on through a couple of other doors. When I opened a door, I saw a bedroom. I hesitated, coming in and closing the door. I looked around, trying to see if it was my bedroom.

"Do you need something?" a familiar monotone voice asked. I whipped my head around to see Kyouya. He was shirtless, with a towel around his neck. His glasses were off and on the table next to him.

I turned my head away quickly trying hard not to blush. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. I was just trying to find my room." I quickly started heading towards the door. "I didn't mean to bother you, sorry."

"Hey, hey, hey, it's just me." Kyouya seemed offended. I stopped my advance to the door, and turned around, hesitating.

"Kyouya-senpai, I'm sorry about today. I've been thinking about it, and maybe confronting them wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done, but it's the only thing I _could _do in that situation. I didn't want any of the girls to be hurt, but I think that everyone is overreacting. It doesn't really matter that we're girls or not." During my little speech, he had gotten up and came closer and closer to me. I swallowed. He was right in front of me right now.

He leaned towards me, his beautiful eyes undreadable. I backed up into the wall, and he leaned closer to me. "I had a hard time separating Hikaru and Kaoru from those two punks. They almost beat them half to death." He gave a small, evil-sounding chuckle. _I knew I didn't want to know..._ "And because of you and Haruhi, I had to send each of the girls a bouquet of flowers to apologize. They've been looking forward to this trip and I don't want to disappoint them."

I sighed. I knew that sooner or later I'd somehow end up owing the Host Club a debt. "I'll pay you back for the flowers, okay?"

He leaned a little bit closer, his smirk intensified. I suddenly began to feel uncomfortable. He reached his hand behind me. "Each bouquet cost me 50,000. That's a grand total of 600,000 yen, Emiko." There was a slight _click _as he turned the lights off. I swallowed. He wouldn't...would he? He leaned his head in so our lips were only a couple of inches apart. "If you want to, you can pay me back with your body."

That's when I tried to get out of there. I tried to slip out from under him, but he grabbed me by the arms, roughly but still gently. He pulled me to his chest, and yanked me onto the bed. He positioned himself on top of me. "Kyouya, what are you doing?" I asked, scared.

"Surely you can't be naïve enough to actually believe that a person's sex doesn't matter. You've left yourself completely defenseless against me."

I squeezed my eyes shut. This was all too familiar...It was as if I was replaying that memory..._Mark had me trapped against the couch. His lips were hovering over mine. "What makes you think that you could take karate lessons? I'll always be here to protect you."_

_ "But what if you weren't? Then I'd need to know how to defend myself," I argued._

_ "I don't care. Do as I say, now. You aren't going to take those karate lessons, understand?"_

_ "You can't tell me what to do! Who are you to-"_

_ He slapped a hand over my mouth, narrowing his eyes. "Oh, yea? I'm the one with the upper hand. I could take you, right now, and you'd be powerless to stop me. You wouldn't survive those karate makes you think you could?"_

_ "You wouldn't, though. You wouldn't take me," I said, looking up at him. My heart stopped when I saw the smirk on his face, and his grin that seemed evil, and almost...lustful. I knew in that second that he absolutely would_.

Still caught in that memory, I whimpered, "Mark, don't!"

Time stopped, frozen. I stiffened as I realized what I said. My eyes snapped open to see Kyouya's shocked face above mine. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I turned my face to the side, my eyes closed, tears welling up in them. There was a rustle from the bed, and Kyouya's voice sounded farther away. "Emiko?" he asked, full of concern. I opened my eyes again, unused to hearing emotion like that in his voice.

Kyouya had gotten off of me, and was sitting near me on the bed. His eyes, normally guarded, were full of concern and a glint of anger. I swallowed. His eyes narrowed, the anger intensified. "Did he...?"

I turned my head away, tears dripping down my cheeks. "No. Luckily for me, my mom came home before he could." I swallowed again. "It was so close, though..."

There was silence for a second, then I was being pulled against his chest. "I'm sorry," he murmured into my hair. "I was just trying to prove something to you."

I tried to give a weak chuckle. "Point taken." I turned my head into his chest, getting my tears and breath under control. It was...comfortable, being in his arms. Familiar, even. It felt so...right, I guess. As we sat there, I could feel a twinge in my heart, something that started ever since I first met him.

I still loved Mark, for reasons beyond my comprehension. However, every day that I was away from him, those feelings began to fade. Now they were being replaced with something new. Something...sweeter. And it was directed towards Kyouya. Was I falling for him?

Eventually, I pulled away. "I-I'm sorry for crying on you Kyouya."

His lips brushed the top of my forehead, making my heart thump eratically in my chest. "It's quite alright. Still, I'm sorry my lesson had that impact on you." He smirked at me as if he could hear my heart. I give him a glare and started to disdainfully get up, trying to ignore the blush that started to creep up my cheeks. I got to the door when I remembered the whole reason that got me into this mess. I turned to look at Kyouya. "Do you know where my room is?"

His smirk intensified, he motioned to the right. "Down the corridor that way, room with your name on it." I gave him a glare and he just smirked. I left, and closed the door, though I considered slamming it. _I hate him, I hate him_ I thought to myself, but my thumping heart told me otherwise.

~..*..~

Hikaru and Kaoru knocked on my door a little while after I found it. "Come on, let's go see what Haruhi and the boss are up too," they chorused over the thunderstorm.

I rolled my eyes but got up, joining the rest of the group outside, ignoring the smirk on Kyouya's face. We wandered down the hall to Tamaki's room. We knocked on the door. "Hey, boss, we're coming in," the twins called as we swung the door in. We all stiffened at the scene.

"With the blindfold on, you can't see anything! And the earplugs help muffle any sound!" Tamaki was gushing. They were sitting on the floor, Haruhi with earplugs in and her eyes covered.

"Wow, yeah, you're right!" Haruhi said.

"...You nasty pervert," Hikaru said, disgusted. I felt the same way. What the heck was he doing...? Tamaki gasped and turned around, frozen at the sight of us in the doorway.

"What kind of foreplay is _that?_" Kaoru asked, equally disgusted.

"It's not like that! It's not what you think!" Tamaki wailed.

~..*..~

"You better watch your back, Haruhi," Hikaru called as we walked with our bags to the car the next morning.

"I never would have pegged the boss as a S&M pervert," Kaoru added.

"I told you, it wasn't like that!" Tamaki snarled.

"I see. Well, now I know what S&M is. I can't believe I almost let you get away with it," Haruhi muttered, rolling up the window of the car, leaving Tamaki on the other side.

We left Tamaki yelling outside of the car, and we drove away, leaving Tamaki in the dust. I leaned back and closed my eyes. As soon as I got home, I would sleep off this whole thing. I needed it.

A/N

Seeeeeee? Second part, aaaaaaaaaaaas promised! I don't know if I can update tomorrow, because I'm going to be at a friends house all day/night to celebrate the end of school, woot woot! Please, reviews are appreciated and will get you a demented hobo! I hear that they are trending now in Svalbard! xD Review! :D


	8. Chapter 8

A/N

Thanks to everyone that reviewed! Has over 50 reviews, I'm as happy as a mouse on the moon! (Because I still firmly believe that moon is made out of cheese...xD) Glad that you all liked the last chapter, more to come! Onward, forward, and to reading of the storyyyy!

Disclaimer: I don't own OHSHC because my ninja mission to capture it failed...miserably. Buuuut on the bright side, I do own my Ocs :)

~The Thorn of a Rose~

Chapter 8

I hummed to myself while playing on the piano. I was in the Host Club room, playing the piece _One Summer's Day _from the movie _Spirited Away. _**[A/N a movie that I whole-heartedly recommend! One of Studio Ghibli's and Miyazaki's finest!] **The movie was a personal favorite of mine, and I loved any and all music that Joe Hisaishi wrote.

The hosts were lounging around dressed in knight cosplay. As I launched into a softer section of the piece, I glanced up, observing them. The twins were amusing themselves on a Gameboy, Hunni was eating cake and Mori was sitting with hi, and Tamaki was bugging Kyouya, who was trying to read. I paused in my playing. "Where's Haruhi?"

Without looking up from his book, Kyouya swatted Tamaki away, who went in his emo corner, and replied, "She's getting more coffee."

I rolled my eyes. "She's not your servant, you know."

"As long as she has her debt, she is," Kyouya said in a monotone voice.

I ignored that, and concentrated on the next part of the song as the host club got into position. I changed the song to a more welcoming song to their guests.

The door opened. "Welcome ladies," the host club said in sync.

Two girls were standing there, in red and white sailor uniforms. One was taller than me, with waist length beautiful hair. The other was about my height with short brown hair. Their eyes narrowed slightly when they saw the host club.

Tamaki grabbed his sword and started to show off with out. "Oh, well! I see you ladies are from another school. I certainly hope we haven't startled you. We love first time guests." His eyes sparkled. "I'm glad you've come, Princesses," Tamaki continued. "My darlings, even if the world was to be destroyed, I'd put my life on the line as your faithful knight and servant." He knelt down in front of them. "I will protect you."

I rolled my eyes. _Wow, Tamaki. _The taller of the two girls scornfully turned her head away from Tamaki. "Oh, my. Do you really think you could protect us? That's awfully arrogant of you, wouldn't you agree?" Her eyes narrowed slightly. "You think that's what a women wants to hear? Well, you're wrong." Tamaki started to look up in surprise.

"Come on, give him a break Sister Suzuran," the other girl piped up. "Men are just lowly life forms who don't care about anything except for perpetuating their testosterone leading image. By protecting us, he's actually attempting to disguise the fact that he is weak and unable to protect himself." My eyes widened, and I choked back a laugh. I knew that the hosts probably have never dealt with extreme feminists before.

"You're such a clever girl, Hinagiku," Suzuran praised.

Tamaki stood up. "Don't you think that's a little harsh? Well, then what do women like you want to hear?"

A new voice joined them. "Maybe something like, I would never leave my lover alone." We all looked to see the newcomer. It was a tall, tall girl, with short brown hair. Haruhi was with her, carrying a bag full of instant coffee.

The girl started throwing Haruhi around. "If we fight, it shall be together! If we fail, we fail together! Even if I were to die, I promise you I will never leave your side, my love." She had knelt down at this point, and leaned in to give Haruhi a kiss on the hand. Everyone looked shocked. I sighed and quietly started picking up my sheet music. I was outta here.

"Benibara! We thought you'd never show!" Hinagiku cried.

"What are we going to do with you? So tell me, where did you find such a lovely young lady?" I froze. They knew Haruhi was a girl?

Then followed the usual calamity. The girls were in awe over Haruhi, and Tamaki fainted at the 'cultural shock'. The Zuka Club strongly expressed their views, and put on a little show. I tried to sneak out of the doors before they could notice me, but failed.

"Oh, my!" Suzuran cried. "What a lovely young girl there is here! Like our young maiden here, she is a jewel among swine! Oh please, Benibara, can we keep her?"

_Whaaaaaaaa? _I thought, confused. The oldest girl, Benibara, came forward and put a hand underneath my chin, tilting my head upwards. Her eyes narrowed. "The beauty of your skin has been marred, my dear. Even though you cover it up with makeup, nothing can fool the eyes of a maiden." Her eyes pierced mine. "Who has dared to hit such a lady?" They flitted over to the hosts. "One of you, perhaps?" I could sense something dangerous coming.

I quickly interjected. "What? No! The host club had nothing to do with this! I'm extremely clumsy and I fell, that's all."

Benibara looked at me. I don't know if she believed me or not. "We simply cannot leave these two maidens in the hands of the host club! We shall prepare enrollment papers into Lobelia Academy immediately! You two shall be welcomed into the Zuka Club!" I blinked. Wait...what? The hosts all look stunned.

Haruhi tried to defend the host club, but they being all idiots, shot down everything from Tamaki being half Japanese half European, to the sale of promotional items. I stayed silent.

"Take a look, Haruhi," Kyouya was saying. "Your used mechanical pencil was just sold at a winning bid of 30,000 yen." I groaned and slapped myself in the face. Bakas. That was just going to make her angry...

Sure enough, she started to flip out at Kyouya, and then the twins when they defended themselves. I sighed, wishing that this was all over.

"Oh, you poor dear. I can't believe they've been deceiving you!" Suzuran cried sympathetically.

"Hey, why don't you just ditch these losers and come with us!" Hinagiku said.

"Hold on, Hinagiku," Benibara murmured. She looked at the both of us, her arm still around me. "These young maidens have had quite a day. We'll give you some time to think about it. We'll come back for your answer tomorrow." She carressed my face, and put a hand on Haruhi's shoulder. "Well, then. Adieu~" They disappeared in a rush of white lily leaves.

There was silence for a moment. Then Haruhi turned to look at them, her death glare on. The hosts looked frightened. "I'd better be going. I've got some thinking to do," she said coldly.

I quickly caught on to what she was doing. She left, closing the door firmly behind her. Everyone looked at me. I shrugged. "They have some really interesting views. It might be worth it to go there," I said. It was so silent, you could hear a pin drop. I ignored a certain dark-haired bespectabled boy whose stare I could feel burning into me as I left the room. I headed to where Haruhi was walking towards our apartments, looking mad.

I caught up to her. "You aren't going to transfer, are you?"

She shook her head, still looking annoyed. "No, I'm not. I still can't believe they sold my pencil." Cue glare...now.

I looked up at the sky, grinning. "I'm not, either, but I made them think I was." I let out a small chuckle. "Tomorrow's going to be interesting."

~..*..~

I decided to try to stay away from the host club today, because I had a feeling that Kyouya would see through the charade, and my fun would be ruined.

I was wandering through the garden, when I heard a voice saying, "Are you hurt?" I paused, and walked around the corner to see a very tall guy with red hair and a scary face holding his hands out to a bird. "Your wing is bent," he murmured to the bird. The animal regarded him, before hopping into the hands. I saw the guys features bend into a smile. A scary smile, but a smile nonetheless.

From my place, I grinned. Although this guy had features that would frighten anyone, I could tell that he was a great guy. I walked forward, making myself known. "Is the sparrow going to be alright?"

The guy jumped up, gasping. "What? Who are you?"

I laughed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I'm Emiko Kobayashi. I'm in class 1A."

He looked confused. "Uh, I'm Ritsu Kasanoda!" he yelled and bowed. "Very pleased to meet you, Kobayashi-san!"

"Just Emiko, please. I'm not really used to all the honorifics," I told him, and he nodded.

"Very well!" He looked at me, confused. "Aren't you afraid of me?"

I looked at him, puzzled. "What? Why?"

He looked embarrassed. "Everyone is scared of me!" **[A/N I've been using exclamation points because he pretty much yells everything that he says...so yeah...]**

I shrugged. "That may or may not be true, but I'm not scared of you. I don't judge people prematurely." I smiled at him. "Besides, if you were bad, why did you help the sparrow? I can tell that you're a good person." I stepped closer to him to look at the sparrow. "Is it going to be alright?"

He had been staring at me in awe. Now he blushed and looked down. "Uh, I don't know."

"Should we take it to the vets?" I suggested.

He nodded. "I'm going to do that after school."

I smiled. "I'd volunteer to go with you, but I'm busy this afternoon." The bell rang to signal the end of lunch. "See ya later! Tell me how the sparrow is doing tomorrow, kay?" I smiled and dashed towards the building and my next class.

As I was passing the rose maze, a hand on my arm stopped me. Confused, I looked up to see Kyouya. My heart skipped a beat when I saw him, and quickly looked away, trying to stop myself from blushing.

"Where are you heading off to?" Kyouya asked coolly.

"My next class," I told him.

"Don't you know that afternoon classes have been canceled because of the exposition for the cultural clubs?"

I blinked. "Oh. Right." I totally forgot. Greaaaaaaaaaat. Another reason for Kyouya to give me that sardonic smirk. I glanced up at him, and sure enough, the mocking smirk was back. Let's give a round of applause, peoples. I gave him a glare, and realized that his hand was still on my arm. Blushing, I quickly took my arm away, and backed up a step.

He took a step forward. "Still thinking about transferring to Lobelia?"

I took another step back cautiously. "Maybe."

He followed me with ease, a cool smirk playing at his lips. "What is it about Lobelia that makes you want to go there?"

I backed up against a tree, and Kyouya stood directly in front of me. Damn. I needed to get out of there before I gave something away. I felt those eyes piercing me, those beautiful, calculating, smoldering eyes...

_Stop it! _I quickly scolded myself, quickly coming back to the situation at hand. "The Zuka Club has some interesting views about life, and I hear that the musical opportunities are excellent," I said carefully.

He leaned in so his face was hovering near mine, and our lips inches away. "What about Ouran Academy? You have a better chance at musical opportunities here than at Lobelia."

I swallowed, unable to break himself away from his eyes, which seemed to burn with an onyx fire. "The uniforms are way better than this poofy marshmellow."

He leaned in closer. "I like the uniform on you, though," he murmured, seeming amused by my answer.

My breath hitched. His lips were so close to mine. Any closer and they would be touching. I could smell his familiar scent, a mixture of something spicy and his own scent. "Why would you want to leave us?" he murmured.

"Emiko?" I heard a familiar voice call. Kyouya abruptly stepped away from me, and I didn't know whether to be disappointed or relieved. Raiden came around the corner, apparently searching for me. He looked curiously between Kyouya's cool and calm demeanor to me, blushing furiously. He seemed to shrug it off. "A couple of us are getting together and practicing the piece. Would you like to join?"

I grinned. "I'd love to!" I quickly got away from Kyouya and sent him a smile. "See you later." My only response was a heart-stopping look from his beautiful onyx eyes. I quickly looked away, still blushing a little as I followed Raiden through the garden.

"What's going on between you and Ootori?" Raiden asked abruptly, not looking at me.

I glanced up at him, a little surprised. "Oh, um, we're just friends, I guess." I thought about him, and the way we act together. He gets on my nerves all the time, but at the same time, I can't stay away from him. Other than Haruhi, he's the only sane one in the club (though I had my doubts about that).

Raiden seemed satisfied with that, and we continued towards Music Room 1, laughing and chatting. I was looking forward to this afternoon to when Haruhi and I could have our sweet revenge when we saw the looks on their faces!

~..*..~

Later, I was walking with Haruhi towards the clubroom, when we saw the Zuka Club in front of us. They turned around one by one.

Benibara turned around first. "Hi, young maidens."

"We've come for your decisions! Are you prepared to leave?" Hinagiku was the next one to turn around.

That left Suzuran as the last one. "We are prepared to face those host club idiots and set things straight once and for all!"

"Set what straight?" Haruhi asked in confusion.

Benibara appeared, leaning on Haruhi's shoulder and putting her hand underneath Haruhi's chin. "That you should come with us, and go to school with your own kind!" Benibara grabbed Haruhi's hand, and Suzuran grabbed my hand, and we set off down the hallway, the three of them dragging us towards the music room, twirling around like ballerinas. If Lia or any of my other band geek friends found out about this, I was socially dead.

The Zuka Club members threw open the door, and we all peered inside. The room was entirely dark, and there were dark shapes in the middle of the floor. I looked around curiously. Where were the hosts? Hikaru and Kaoru had been plotting something all day, I could tell from the secretive looks and whispers.

Suddenly, a figure stood up and sang in an unbreaking note, "OURAN!"

Immediately after that figure had finished, an identical figure stood up and sang, "OURAN!"

An enormously tall figure stood up. "Ouran," he sang in an obviously male monotone.

Another figure stood up next to the tall one. "Ouran," he sang, his voice holding steady.

A small figure stood up, and in a childish voice sang, "OURAN!"

The lights clicked on, and directly in front of me stood a familiar beautiful lady with long blonde hair. "OURAN!" she sang, and I saw the rest of the figures.

"HOST CLUB! WELCOMES YOUUUU!" they all sang. I froze, realizing it was the hosts. All of the hosts. And...they were...dressed like..._girls. _

My jaw dropped, as did the Zuka Club and Haruhi's. "Oh, Haruhi! Emiko! Welcome back!" Tamaki cried in a falsetto voice, gliding forward in a ridiculous pink ballroom dress, with a wig that had long blonde hair. His face was covered in makeup. Didn't he know the rule, or was it different in Japan? Less was best? I sweatdropped.

"Look Haru-chan, Emi-chan! I'm a princess now!" Hunni gushed as he twirled in front of us in his pink dress. He also had on a wig, a bow tie in his hair, and makeup. He was holding Usa-chan. He gave us a cute smile. "Aren't I cute?"

Benibara gasped in fury. "What is the meaning of this? Are you trying to make fun of woman-kind?"

Tamaki put a finger to his lips. "What? No, that's not it at all! Everythings going according to plan. This strategy is guaranteed to make even a crying child smile! It's the Freebie Campaign!" He started giggling and twirling around.

I blinked. Freebie...campaign? Oh...my...god...

Tamaki continued speaking. "My dears, you all have lived sheltered lives at Lobelia, so you might not know, that commoners are weak! They have a weakness for free things! Emiko, Haruhi, you may be distracted by the Zuka Club, but choose us, and you not only gain a club full of brothers, but full of sisters as well!" I looked at all of them in their girls clothes, still in shock.

"This way you can experience feminine bonding while staying in the host club!" Tamaki continued, throwing his hands up dramatically. "Isn't that a great idea?" he sighed dreamily, twirling around. He gave us a seductive look. "Aren't I pretty?"

He was quickly replaced by the Hitachiins, wearing ridiculous dressed with their long orange hair in ridiculous frills. "We're the Hitachiin sisters! Which one of us is prettier?"

They came in close to us. "I'm only teasing you," Hikaru said in his soprano voice. Kaoru giggled. I glanced over in disbelief at Haruhi. Her face was stoic, though.

"Listen, Emi-chan! Haru-chan!" Hunni cried. He came up to us, clutching Usa-chan. "You can call me big sis from now on," he said.

Hunni was replaced by Kyouya and Mori. Mori obviously was too masculine to dress up as a girl, so he was the only brother, I guess. Kyouya was dressed up in purplish clothes that reminded me of the evil stepmother from Cinderella. I guess he was another sister...or was he the mother? Anyway, they pranced by, Mori shaking the tambourine.

"Why you..." Benibara gasped, trailing off for a second before her anger coming out again. "Do you idiots really think that you can win them over like this? I've had enough of this!"

That's it. I couldn't hold it in anymore. "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" I laughed, holding my stomach and falling over. Haruhi joined in a split second after I did. Tears of mirth started pouring down my cheeks. I could feel everyone staring at us in shock as we pretty much died of laughter, Haruhi ranting on about what a bunch of goofballs they were.

The twins and Hunni appeared in front of us. "Are we really that pretty?" they cooed. We started laughing harder than ever.

"Call me big sister!" they yelled chasing us around. "Come on, do it!"

Once we escaped the twins, our laughter began to die down. "What were you guys thinking?"

"Whats gotten into you guys?" I added, laughing.

Hikaru put his hands behind his head and looked away. "We did this because we didn't want you to leave the host club," he muttered.

We looked up, a little shocked and then looked at each other and grinned.

"Well, maidens, have you made a choice?" Benibara asked quietly.

We stood up and looked at her. "I have," Haruhi said. "I'm sorry, but your club is not for me. I think the idea of a girls school is great, and the views are very unique and interesting, but I came to this school with a goal and a view of my future, so while I appreciate my offer, I really knew all along that I would never leave Ouran Academy." Hinagiku and Suzuran looked shocked. They looked at me.

"What about you?" Suzuran asked, pleading at me with her eyes.

"Please tell me that you'll come with us and leave them behind," Hinagiku begged.

I felt Kyouya's eyes boring into me. I looked at Benibara calmly. "Like Haruhi, I was never going to leave Ouran." I grinned, looking over at everyone. "I couldn't leave, I'd miss everyone too much! I do appreciate what you girls are trying to do, but I'm happy here at Ouran, happier than I've been for a while, so I'm sorry, but I'm staying here." I grinned and laughed a little. "Besides, how could I live without seeing what they'd get up to next?"

Mori tapped on his tambourine a soft look on his face, and Kyouya's glasses twinkled, his face hidden behind a ridiculous-looking fan. Tears flew down Tamaki's cheeks freely. "HARUHIIII! IMOTO-CHAN!" He gasped, and grinned, but then stopped and looked confused. "Hold on! If you knew you were going to leave, why did you act so angry yesterday? And Emiko, I thought you said that you were going!"

Haruhi blew up in his face. "How would you like it if I stole something of yours? I really liked that mechanical pencil, it was easy to write with!"

I laughed. "I just said that their views were interesting, and it might be fun to go there, but I never said I would! I was just helping Haruhi get her revenge." I grinned impishly, and I noticed Kyouya's glasses flash.

Tamaki pulled back, looking at the two of us. "I'm sorry," he murmured, then started ranting on about his pencil and annoying Haruhi.

"Um, Benio?" Suzuran asked softly.

Benibara looked down. "I know," she said softly. "We're not going to give up on you, maidens," she said, and we all looked at her. "I swear this to the both of you, someday we'll come and rescue you from this place! And when we do, we'll abolish the Ouran Host Club!" She chuckled softly at our stunned faces. "Well, adieu~" she said softly, and once again the three of them left, twirling and giggling from the room in a cloud of white lily leaves. From down the hall I heard the screech of some random monkey, and shrieks as the three of them fell. The doors closed by themselves on the scene of the three of them on the ground. I started laughing. Bakas.

~..*..~

Later, I was playing softly on the piano, still grinning over everything that had happened today. I didn't bring my keyboard over from America, so here at school was the only time that I could play it. The hosts had already left for the day, with Tamaki annoying Haruhi as usual.

I felt someone come up behind me and put their hands of my shoulders. I felt warm breath on my ear as a familiar, cool voice murmured, "Shall we pick up where we left off?" He chuckled.

I jumped, and he took his hands off my shoulders. "K-Kyouya," I stammered, turning around to face him. "I'm sorry, I thought everyone had gone for the day-"

He put a finger to my lips, his signature smirk flashing at me. "Well apparently you were wrong, weren't you." My heart began to beat wildly at how close he was to me. His smirk grew wider, and I wouldn't doubt that he could hear it.

He leaned in closer to me, putting his hands on either side of me. "That wasn't a very nice trick to play on the hosts that you did today," he murmured.

I looked up into his eyes. "It was worth it. Besides, it added to the drama."

"Oh really? It caused Tamaki to force us to dress as girls." Any closer and our lips would touch...

"That was amazing to see, though. I can't believe you all went along with it. No offense, but you looked like the evil stepmother from Cinderella."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "That wasn't very nice, either."

"Pity."

His lips quirked back into his smirk, and he leaned in to murmur in my ear. "When you said you couldn't leave us, was there one person in particular you couldn't leave?"

I blushed and looked away from him, trying to ignore how close he was. His scent was intoxicating. I began to babble, to try to cover up my racing heart and blush. "Well, ever since I came here you all have been so nice to me and I consider all of you some of my closest friends so of course I would miss you, like I would miss Tamaki being an idiot and the twins pranks and Mori and Hunni's kindness and Hunni's love of cake and I'd miss annoying you and the way you always get on my nerves about the littlest things but yet I like being around you at the same time and your beautiful onyx eyes when they're not being hidden by your glasses..." I gulped, blushing furiously, and clamped a hand over my traitor mouth.

He gave me an evil grin and leaned in so our foreheads were touching. He looked into my eyes. "What was that about my beautiful eyes?" he asked, smirking.

I blushed. _This stupid, evil, conceited asshole! _I fumed, my heart racing.

He grinned. "That's what I thought." His lips crushed against mine, and I blinked a little, too surprised to move at first. But then, I slowly closed my eyes, and put my arms around his neck, kissing him back. Everything that I felt about Kyouya, all the annoyance but at the same time, all the sweetness, and all of our mock fights, all the times I'd get on his nerves, and the times that he got on my nerves, it all came rushing back into this one moment. And in that moment, I felt the scars on my heart go a lot closer to being almost fully healed.

A/N

Sorry I haven't updated in a couple days :( I broke my vow for every day, and i'm so sorry about that! Please don't hate me!

This took a long time to write, and I will have to leave you soon. I don't know how often I'll get to update, because I have to get packing for summer camp! woohooo! Last year as a camper, gonna make the most of it! I'll be at my summer camp for 5 weeks, with access to no technology at all, so please don't hate me because I won't be able to update for weeks! I promise you that while I'm at camp I will write lots and lots of chapters, and update when I get back in August! (I leave in July)

Reviews are very much appreciated! Garden gnomes for all the people that review! And by the by, I finally got around to putting Kasanoda into the story! New friend, woohoo! Though now that I read back on Kasanoda's behavior, as well as Raiden's and Nekozawa's, it's occurred to me...could they like her? :) Wait and find out!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N

Okay, I know, I know. I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN MONTHS! I'M SO SORRY! D: *sit's in Tamaki's corner* Okay, so seriously I have no excuse other than things in my personal life and that my muse went on a long, happy vacation to the Bahamas and DIDN'T INVITE MEEE~ *grows mushrooms* so, yes, back with a new chapter! I was reading back over my story and realized something very important; Ranka isn't in it! Well, fixing that with this chapter ^.^ Also more Nekozowa and Kasanoda friendship! Read and review!

Disclaimer: I do not own OHSHC but I do own my OCs :) 

~The Thorn of a Rose~

Chapter 9

I dragged the bow across the strings of the violin. Melodic notes tumbled out of it into a scale. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on hitting the correct notes. Suddenly, Kyouya's smirking face appeared in my mind, and the violin screeched as I hit a wrong note. Sighing, I put the instrument down and touched my lips for what had to be the millionth time that day.

Images flashed through my mind, of Kyouya kissing me. Why did he do that? Did he actually like me like that? But, why? The twins had filled me in on everyones' family story, so I knew everything about the pressure of being the third son. Shouldn't he go for someone with purer blood? I was nothing but an American commoner. My mother and father came from Japan to Maine some years before I was born. My dad then died 2 years after my brother AJ was born. He died in a car accident.

A knock on the door startled me out my swirling thoughts. My breath hitching in my throat, I opened the door to find Haruhi. I breathed out, out of relief or disappointment I didn't know. "Hey, Haruhi."

"Hi, Emiko. Is everything alright?"

"Huh?"

"I was listening to you practice. Is something wrong?" Her chocolate-brown eyes looked at me questioningly, and I could tell that she cared about my answer.

I sighed. "I just have a lot of things on my mind right now."

"Would you like to come and have lunch?"

I set my violin down. "Sure. I don't think I'll get much more practicing in, anyway." I followed her out of my apartment and into hers. We idly chatted while making lunch.

Once we sat down to eat, Haruhi looked at me. "Does your distractions have to do with Kyouya?"

My chopsticks clattered against my bowl. "Wha-what?"

She chuckled. "I'm not blind. I know that you like him."

I looked down at my bowl. "I-I don't know..."

She didn't answer, because at that moment the door opened and a woman walked in. "HARUHI! DADDY'S HOME~!" She/He sang. She/he blinked seeing me, before squealing and grabbing Haruhi. "OH HARUHI~! YOU HAVE A GIRL FRIEND OVER~!" He grabbed my hand and shook it enthusiastically. "I'm Ranka, dear~! So glad to see that Haruhi has a girl friend to make her start weraing more girly stuff!" He giggled.

I blinked, still confused by everything. "Uh, pleased to meet you, Ranka-san. I'm Emiko Kobayashi. I'm your neighbor..."

"OH! That sweet violinist from America! Tell me dear, what sort of fashions do they have there?" He beamed at me.

"Daaaad," Haruhi groaned from behind us.

I shook my head. "It's fine, Haruhi. I should probably go. There are some things I want to do." I stood up and waved to the two of them. "Thanks for lunch, and it was nice meeting you, Ranka-san!" I walked out of the apartment, and headed down the steps.

_I'm not blind. I know you like him._

Is it...true? Do I like Kyouya? My heart suddenly leaped out of my chest when I saw a guy with glasses and dark hair passing me, even though it wasn't Kyouya. I closed my eyes. _I'm doomed..._

_What about Mark?_

My eyes snapped open at the unwanted thought. Where had that come from? To hell with Mark! He can't rule my life anymore! I came here to be free of him, not to waste time worrying about him!

I walked down the street towards the supermarket. I had almost reached it when I noticed a head of blonde hair and bright blue eyes. I paused, and saw a small girl of about six crying her eyes out on the sidewalk. I hadn't seen anyone with blonde hair and blue eyes since I left America.

Except for Tamaki...

I crouched down beside the girl. "Hey. Are you lost?"

The girl looked up at me. "I was searching for Big Brother, but I don't know where he is!"

I bit my lip. "Does your brother have blonde hair and blue eyes, like you?"

She nods vigourously. "Yes! Have you seen him? He's a prince!"

I took a deep breath. Yeah, okay, description fits Tamaki. So...Tamaki has a sibling...?

"What's his name?"

"Big Brother!"

...Okay that helped. I looked around, but barely anyone spared us a glance. Sighing, I took out my cellphone and scrolled through the address book searching for Tamaki's number. I paused at Kyouya's number. The twins had added everyone to my phone, with pictures included. Kyouya's was him sitting at a table, on his laptop. Big surprise.

I studied the picture. He looked tired, overworked. Poor thing. Maybe if he slept a little more, or even ate!

The little girl tugged my shirt, yanking me out of my musings. "Have you seen him?"

"What's your name?"

"Kirimi!"

"...Creamy?"

She laughed. "No, silly! Ki-ri-mi!"

"Oh," I said, feeling foolish.

Before I could say anything else, a limo pulled up to the curb. A woman with dark hair in pigtails and a bald man stepped out. "Kirimi!" The woman took Kirimi's hand. She looked at me. "Please step into the car so the master may talk to you."

I was about to refuse, but the bald man guy kinda looked threatening, so I decided to comply. Besides, it was just Tamaki...right?

Nervously, I slid into the car, with the woman sliding in after me, closing the door. Kirimi and the bald man I heard get into the front of the limo.

The back of the limo was pitch dark. "Umm..." I said nervously.

A candle suddenly appeared, with Nekozawa's grinning face. I jumped and yelled, but relaxed when I saw it was him. "Nekozawa-senpai! Don't scare me like that!" I scolded.

"_Fufufufu~ _Please accept my apologizes, Kobayashi-san. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Wait...I'm confused. Are you..."

"Yes, Kirimi and Umehito are indeed siblings. It's tragic! Kirimi is afraid of the dark, and Umehito, the light..." The maid went off into a huge rant about how they could never be together, they're the Romeo and Juliet type of story...

"But I thought Romeo and Juliet were lovers..." I murmured.

The maid's eyes suddenly turned frightening. "Don't interrupt!" she spat, and I cringed backwards into my seat.

"I thank you for helping out my little sister," Nekozawa said, waving Belzeneff around in the air. "When she went missing, I volunteered to look for her, although I am cursed and cannot step out into the light!" He went off into _his _tyrant about doing occulty stuff to get her to embrace the darkness.

I shook my head and put up a hand. "Hold on. Look at the facts. You can't go into the sunlight, Kirimi hates the darkness. She also hates your black cloak and stuff. So...try to find a happy medium. You know, compromise."

"Compromise...?"

"Yeah, try to find somewhere where middle grounds meet. And work with Kirimi to try to at least alleviate her fear of the dark somewhat. I'm sure that things will turn out for the better," I said cheerfully.

"I will indeed try this. Thank you once again for finding my sister~ See you at school, Kobayashi-san~"

I waved to him, and let myself out of the car after Nekozawa retreated to a dark corner. The limo sped off, with me covering my eyes, adjusting them to the sun's rays.

I looked after the limo, and smiled a bit before heading to the supermarket to do some shopping.

~..*..~

As I was making supper, the phone rang. Seeing it was Lia, I immediately picked it up. "Hey!"

"Hey hey hey! How ya doing?" the cheerful voice of my band geek buddy rang through the phone.

"...Moral dilemma."

"Spill before I set my evil yellow banana-like minions on you."

I paused. "Despicable Me?"

"Hey, I'm babysitting eight and nine year olds!"

"Excuses, excuses." I laughed.

"Anyway..." Lia said impatiently.

I paused again. "Well...you know about Kyouya..."

"Sheesh, the way you were talking about him the other day? Holy crush-a-moly!"

"...Is it that obvious?"

I could picture her rolling her eyes. "Der! The way you were talking about him all affectionately?" She imitated retching sounds.

"What about James?" I teased.

5 bucks she was blushing. Or, 500 yen...whatever. "That's different."

"Mhm. Anyway...he kinda...kissed me today?"

"...HOLY FLYING SQUIRRELS! Are you serious? Was it all romantic? Did he, like, just kiss you, or was he flirting first? Or did he just pull a Sean and-"

"BANANAS!"

Silence.

"Thank you. And...he _was _flirting with me, big-time. It was also because I was kind of threatening to leave Ouran..."

"What? Why?"

I explained the whole Lobelia incident, and at the end she was basically drowning from tears from laughing so hard. "HAHAHAHA they dressed up like girls and HAHAHAHAHAHA! I NEED TO MEET THESE PEOPLE BWAHAHAHAHA!" It was some time before I could get her to make intelligent conversation again.

"So...I think I really like him..."

"Good! You need this, after Mark!"

"...Well..." I hesitated. "Lia, is it weird that even after everything that we've been through, I still...kinda miss him?" I felt revolted saying those words aloud. They sounded so...wrong! Missing Mark? That abusive jerk!

But yet...

Lia was quiet for a bit. "Well... Emiko, if you truly loved someone, that love will never die. You don't miss Mark; you missed the Mark that he first showed you, the funny and sweet person that made you fall for him. You don't miss the abusive side of him. It makes sense...I'm so sorry that you had to go through this, Emi."

"What I feel for Kyouya...It's similar in some ways to what I felt for Mark at first. I just want to forget Mark ever happened and move on with my life!"

"You can't ever forget him, Emiko. You just have to accept it and move on with your life."

This conversation was getting a little too heavy for my taste. "When did you get all wise?" I teased.

She laughed. "Ousch, I'sh shlain!" We both collapsed with laughter.

"You's mah fraaaaaand!" I gasped out, and we both died of laughter again. We spent the next 5 minutes continuing to say phrases from Rudolph's Shiny New Year. I went over to her house on New Years Eve, and because she had a 5 year old sister, and a 3 year old brother, we watched it. Lia and I spent months making fun of it after.

We ended our conversation a little bit afterwards, and I fell asleep, feeling content, until I remembered that I had school tomorrow.

And tomorrow I would see Kyouya...

~..*..~

The next day I walked to school with Haruhi, chatting. We had just reached school, when we noticed a tall guy standing outside. Grinning, I skipped up to him. "Hey, Kasanoda!"

He looked down at me, blushing a little. "Good morning Kobayashi-san!" he yelled.

"How are you today? Hey, how's that sparrow that you helped?"

"It's good! The vet said that the wing should heal and it should be okay to fly again."

I grin. "That's great!" I introduced Haruhi to Kasanoda, and we chatted for a little bit, before we went our separate ways to our classes.

On our to class, Haruhi and I talked about minor things. "You're coming to the Club this afternoon, right?" Haruhi asked.

I hesitated, and Kyouya's face flashed into my mind. As cowardly as it sounded, I was too shy to face him. Where did he and I stand? "Umm..."

"Please Emiko? Don't let me stay with all of them, I need you for my point of sanity."

I gave a weak laugh. "Alright. Yeah, I'll come." Yay...

~..*..~

After escaping from Orchestra Club, (Raiden took forever to end the conversation, what was up with him?) I made my way to the Host Club. As I pushed open the door, I heard Kasanoda yelling, "I'd like to request Emiko Kobayashi-san!"

What…?

Everyone froze, and looked at where I had just entered the room. Kasanoda was cringing, like he would get yelled at for his choice. I walked into the room, but before I could say anything, Kyouya said, "Of course she would be happy to. Right, Kobayashi-san?" He sent me a fake smile, and a look that clearly said, Don't try to wriggle out of this.

I ignored him and smiled at Kasanoda. "Alright. Let me just put my stuff down and I'll be with you in a moment." I walked into the changing room, and took a deep breath. Stupid money-grubbing miser. I had no idea how to be a host! I took another deep breath, trying to calm myself and my emotions at seeing Kyouya again. _Calm down. Focus. You've seen Haruhi and the others do this a million times. Besides, it's Kasanoda. He's a friend. Just be yourself. _I set my violin case down, and my bookbag. I went back outside, and walked over to the couch where Kasanoda was sitting. Haruhi handed me a coffeepot and a sympathetic smile, and I managed a weak one back.

I walked over and sat down. "Hey, Kasanoda! I normally don't entertain guests, so this is as new to me as it is to you! How are you today?" I made small conversation with him, as I poured the instant coffee.

He was sweating, as if there was something troubling him, and I wondered what it could be. Was he nervous about something? But what was there to be nervous about? Trying to set his fears at ease, I chatted about anything that came to mind.

When I noticed that our time was at an end, I thanked Kasanoda for the visit, and he left. I cast a small glare at Kyouya, which he didn't notice because he was typing away at his laptop. My heart leaped at the sight of him doing something so familiar...so..._Kyouya._ I looked away, and went to the adjoining room to grab the guitar. Walking out, I strummed gently away as the guests were finishing up and leaving.

Hunni bounded over. "Play something, Emi-chan!" he beamed.

I hesitated, but the twins came over too. "Pleeeeease?" they begged in sync.

I sighed. "Fine." I mentally went through some of the songs I knew on guitar, before deciding on one that I had sang at a summer camp I went to, for the camp's version of their own woodstock.

"_And when you cry, be sure to dry your eyes_

_ Cause better days are sure to come_

_ And when you smile, be sure to smile wide_

_ Don't let them know that they have won_

_ And when you walk, walk with pride_

_ Don't show the hurt inside_

_ Because the pain will soon be gone"_

I allowed myself a smile as I plunged into the chorus.

"_And when you dream, dream big_

_ As big as the ocean blue_

_ Because when you dream it might come true_

_ And when you dream, dream big._

_ And when you laugh, be sure to laugh out loud_

_ 'Cause it will carry, all your cares away_

_ And when you see, see the beauty_

_ All around and in yourself_

_ And it will help you feel okay_

_ And when you pray, pray for strength, to help you carry on_

_ For when the troubles come your way._"

I quickly glanced up at the host club, to see their grinning faces. I quickly glanced at Kyouya, and noticed him listening with a rapt look of attention on his face, as well as a hint of a soft smile. Blushing I quickly looked down at the guitar again.

"_And when you dream, dream big_

_ As big as the ocean blue_

_ Cause when you dream it might come true_

_ And when you dream, dream big."_

I hummed a little as I played the guitar solo.

"_And when you laugh, be sure to laugh out loud_

_ Cause it will carry all your cares away_

_ And when you see, see the beauty_

_ All around and in yourself_

_ And it will help you feel okay_

_ And when you pray, pray for strength_

_ To help you carry on, for when the troubles come your way_

_ And when you dream, dream big_

_ As big as the ocean blue_

_ Cause when you dream it might come true_

_ And when you dream, dream big."_

I finished the last chords of the song, and I looked up. Tamaki grabbed me spinning me around in a hug. "IMOTO-CHAN THAT WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFULEST THING IN THE WORLD YOUR SO TALENTED ONII-SAN IS SO PROUD OF YOU~!"

"Tamaki! Squished! Can't breathe! Guitar!" I gasped out, and Tamaki finally let go of me. I winced, feeling where the guitar had imprinted into my side from his murderous hug.

Hunni bounded up to me and climbed onto my shoulders. He was surprisingly light, considering all the sweets he ate on a regular basis. "That was so pretty, Emi-chan!" he grinned.

"Yeah!" the twins said. "You should sing songs like that more often!" Mori nodded in agreement.

I laughed. "Thanks, you guys. That means a lot to me." I tried not to look at a certain bespectabled boy, trying to ignore the flip-flopping feeling in my stomach. _I'm hopeless..._

The hosts started to leave, and I slowly helped Haruhi clean up after the day. Eventually, she left too. I slowly picked the guitar up, putting it back on the rack. I picked up my violin case and bookbag, and walked out of the room. It was empty – except for one person.

I quickly started walking towards the doors, and the _click! clacking! _of keys stopped. "Leaving without saying goodbye? How rude," a familiar voice drawled.

I hesitated. "Goodbye, Kyouya." I tried to leave, but he stood up and blocked my way, raising an eyebrow.

"Is there something wrong, Emiko?"

I blushed, trying not to meet his gaze. "No, nothing."

I could just imagine him smirking. "Then why are blushing and avoiding looking at me?"

I snapped my head up. "I am not!" I immediately regretted looking at him. I immediately got lost in his eyes, his beautiful onyx eyes... My heart thumped erratically.

He chuckled, and reached out a hand, stroking my cheek. He leaned in to whisper in my ear, "Of course not."

I tried to make sense in my muddled brain. "Where – where do I stand with you?" I felt him pause, as if he was unsure of what I was asking. "What do you feel for me?" I amended. Please don't let him say something that I don't want to hear...

He drew back to look at me, and I was surprised to see dark amusement in his eyes. "Is that why you're acting strange?" I blushed, and he chuckled again. "Well...let's see. Your facial expressions, the way you randomly laugh at memories... I found myself fascinated by you from the beginning. Also, you're strong. You've been through so much, but yet... you try not to be affected too much by it. You still live your life, despite what happened to you in past. I like that." He chuckled, and I felt a glimmer of hope as to where this was leading. "You are also heartbreakingly beautiful," he murmured, and I felt surprised. Me...beautiful? I always thought I was plain looking...not like a lot of girls in America and here at Ouran... I blushed, feeling flattered.

He tilted my chin to make me look at him. His eyes shone with some hidden emotion, and I felt myself trembling...this was it...please please don't blow me off...

"Emiko..." he said, trailing off, before smiling at me. Yes, _smiling. _It was a real smile, not a sadistic smirk, or a fake smile. It transformed his whole face, making him even more handsome than he already was, if that possible in my opinion. "Emiko...I love you."

In that instant, I felt all of my breath leave me. I felt as light as a feather, and like I could float away on the smallest drift of wind. I grinned, feeling a swell of happiness course through me. _Kyouya...was in love with me! With me! _And I knew in that instance, that I loved him back.

"Kyouya..." I whispered, but leaned up and kissed him softly, pouring my unsaid emotions into it. He understood what I was trying to tell him, responding to the kiss and snaking an arm around my waist, pulling me closer.

I was..._complete._

A/N

There, 7 pages! I hope that makes up for my absence!

….Yeah guess not.

...I'm really sorry about that... *hides in corner*

So, yes! (Insert sing-song voice here) ~Guess whose coming into the story sooon~ (evil chuckle) muhahahahaha! Soo... I realize I'm not really following the story timeline anymore, but OH WELL! Well, not really. Maybe I'll do another episode before having Mark come back into the story...or two...depends on what all of you want!

And I am truly sorry about the delay :/ Forgive me?

Review and you get one of those yellow banana-like minions from Despicable Me! :D

By the by, the song that was used was Dream Big by Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband. I wholeheartedly suggest checking it out!

Until next time...


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own OHSHC**

* * *

><p>~The Thorn of a Rose~<p>

Chapter 10

"So, Emiko, did you enjoy dinner last night?" Kyouya asked, smirking a little.

I cast him a glare. "Are you kidding me? Your dad freaked me out, the way he kept interrogating me." Last night, I had gone over to Kyouya's house to meet his parents. His mother was really sweet, and so was his older sister, Fuyumi. Fuyumi was married, but she had stopped by for dinner and to meet me. I really liked her. She had reminded me of my friend May back home.

His father, on the other hand...

Kyouya chuckled. "Well, you managed to impress him, at least. An American commoner, of Japanese descent, with an exceptional music ability. After all, you _are _first chair in the Ouran Orchestra."

I rolled my eyes, leaning back in my chair. "But still.." I sighed and checked the time. "I'd better get to the Orchestra club. I'll be by the club later, 'kay Kyouya?"

He nodded, and kissed my forehead, before leaving.

~..*..~

After Orchestra Club, I meandered my way back towards the Host Club. Raiden was sick, so I decided to give him a call later, to see if he was okay. Maybe I would stop by with some soup or something. _Oh, wait..._ I though, and nearly facepalmed myself. Raiden was the second son of a prestigious company that specialized in making musical instruments. He'd probably have a million bowls of soup at his disposal... Stupid rich people.

Thinking through all of this, I opened the door. The Host Club was dressed in police cosplay, and Tamaki was twirling around in a circle, squealing about being a big brother, with a familiar-looking little girl in his arms. Kyouya and Haruhi were off to the side, and as I approached them, I could hear them talking about finding out if 'she has a brother at this school'.

"Kirimi...?" I asked uncertainly.

Everyone looked over at me, including Tamaki who stopped twirling around to stare at me. Kirimi's face brightened. "It's you, the silly person!" She giggled and launched into my arms.

"Emiko, you know who this is?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, this is Kirmi. She's the younger sister of Nek-"

"_Kirimi..." _a familiar voice hissed. "_Kirimi..."_

Everyone turned around in surprise to see the door-that-was-not-there-before reappear. A handsome blond man poked his head out. He reminded me of Tamaki, but there were noticiable differences, like in the hair length. _So this is Nekozowa without the wig and cloak? _I though with interest.

"Hey, uh, who the hell are you?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked in their usual tactless way.

"He looks like a foreigner!" Hunny said, gasping with excitement.

"What's up with that? Our door looks different all of a sudden..." Haruhi muttered.

Nekozowa stepped forward, his eyes shining. "Oh, Kirimi..." he said.

"Master."

"You forgot your cloak."

Two familiar-looking people stepped forward, and our vision of Nekozowa was being blocked by flying cloth. When Nekozowa was turned to face us again, we saw that he was back in his regular cloak and wig.

"Nekozowa-senpai?" Haruh, the twins, and Tamaki gasped in unison. Belzeneff seemed to cackle in response.

"Master Umehito is terribly vulnerable to any kind of bright light," Kuretake, the family maid, said dramatically. She started going off on the same spiel about how he was cursed, can't go out in light, ect.

The secretary, Kadomatsu, began to join in on the lecture, adding in the bits about Kirimi, with Kuretake whimpering and crying in the background.

"So this little girl is Nekozowa-senpai's younger sister?" Haruhi asked, pointing to Kirmi, who was still in my arms.

"You are quite insightful," Kadomatsu said, using a handkerchief to hid the tears starting in his eyes. I rolled my eyes and went over to the couch, to sit down while avoiding the drama that was happening. Kirmi wriggled out of my arms, racing back to Tamaki, who immediately picked her up.

I looked up from my piano sheet music when Kirmi screamed, "Brother, save me from the monster!" I wathced as she leaped back into Tamaki's arms. Nekozowa was starting to grow a little bit distraught. I turned back to my sheet music, trying to ignore the host club 'trying to help'.

I looked up in time to hear Nekozowa choke out, "Don't worry about me, Suoh. All I want is for my sister to be happy." He let out a little sob. "Make sure she gets the love she deserves!" He fled the room, sobbing.

"But wait a minute! Senpai!" Tamaki yelled.

"Nekozowa!" I yelled, standing up, and running after him. I reached the hallway in time to see Nekozowa disappearing at the end of the hallway. Sighing, I came back into the room to hear Haruhi saying, "I grew up an only child, so I can't relate. I can't imagine how tough it must be to have a sibling whose so different from you that you can't even spend time with together."

The room was silent for a second. Then Tamaki put Kirmi down. She looked up at him in confusion. "Is something wrong? Tell me, Big Brother!"

Tamaki smiled gently at her. "I'm sorry, Kirimi-chan. I'm not the big brother you've been looking for." I saw Haruhi turn towards him, surprised, out of the corner of my eye.

"Don't worry," Tamaki added. "Believe it or not, but you have a big brother out there whose even more handsome than I am! But I promise you, he's a real prince." Kirmi stared up at him in awe.

"Senpai..." Haruhi began nervously.

Tamaki striked a dramatic pose. "Once she stepped into this room, Kirimi-chan became a guest of the Host Club!" he said firmly. "And it's our job to make all of our guests happy! It's an absolute tragedy to see a brother and sister at odds this way! We have to do something to help them! Starting now, Operation Change Nekozowa-senpai into the princely character of Kirimi-chan's dreams is now underway!"

I blinked. "Yeah. No. I'm going to go practice somewhere else, so bye." I turned and grabbed my sheet music before leaving, shaking my head. "Idiots. All of them." I considered for a moment as I walked along. "Except Kyouya. And Haruhi."

I turned the corner and nearly smacked into Nekozowa. He was staring out the window, for once without Belzeneff. I walked up next to him. "Hey, Nekozowa-senpai."

He turned to me, blinking. "Emiko."

I leaned against the windowsill next to him, glancing out. "I'm sorry about Kirimi."

He bit his lip and looked away, back out the window. "The Nekozowas are cursed. It is not your fault," he murmured.

"Is that why you're obsessed with dark magic?" I asked curiously. "Because you can't go out into the light?"

He nodded. "I embraced the darkness, but yet it came with a sacrifice."

"I'm sorry," I said yet again, placing a hand on his arm. "I'm here for you, Nekozowa. If you need to talk, don't hesitate to come find me."

He blinked, surprised, but then smiled at me. "Thank you, Emiko."

I grinned back. "No problem!"

"BOSS! We found him!" two familiar voices called. Hikaru and Kaoru ran up and stood on either side of me.

Tamaki appeared a moment later with the rest of the host club plus Renge trailing behind. I had met Renge at an earlier date and decided to stay away from the crazed otaku who gave me evil looks because I was dating Kyouya.

"Imoto-chan! Dopplegangers! Grab him!" Tamaki yelled, brandishing his arm towards Nekozowa. The twins pounced on him and ran away, carrying my poor friend in-between them. The host club disappeared after them, chatting.

I blinked. "Kidnapped?"

"No," a familiar voice said. "Simply up to another idiotic plan." I turned around to see Kyouya.

"Hey," I said, grinning. "Poor Nekozowa."

He raised an eyebrow. "I suppose. Do you need a ride home?"

I shrugged. "Sure, why not. Let me just rescue Haruhi and then we can go." I gave Kyouya a hug before heading off down the hallway towards the host club.

* * *

><p>AN

*waves arms hysterically* I'M SO SORRYYYYY! It's been MONTHS since I've last updated! To be frank, my muse for this story went on a long trip to the Caribbean and left me behind... I'M STILL VERY SORRY!

I promise on my honor as a band geek that I will have the next chapter up VERY soon! No more will I neglect this story! I'M SORRYYYYYY xP

~Eva Sirico~


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own OHSHC**

~The Thorn of a Rose~

Chapter 11

"GIVE THAT BACK!" I yelled at the Hitachiin twins as they raced around with my violin sheet music. "I need that for practice today~!" I whined as they held it over my head. Damn my shortness!

"Hitachiins! Stop teasing Kobayashi-san." The teacher walked over and plucked the sheet music out of their hands and handed it to me.

I bowed. "Thank you, sensei." I turned to the twins and stuck my tongue out at them. They settled on either side of me as the lesson began.

"Don't come to the Host Club for the next few days," Hikaru murmured to my left.

"Why?" I whispered back.

"Hunni's got a cavity," Kaoru explained in an undertone from my other side. "He's been impossible. Mori's being really tough on him."

"Why's he being so hard on him?" I asked, puzzled.

They shrugged. "We don't know."

"You three! Stop talking!"

~..*..~

I walked along the hallway next to Kasanoda, chatting as I headed to the Ouran orchestra club. He was telling me about this new sparrow he had found when Hunni walked towards us. Hunni's eyes were downcast and watery with tears. He had a white cloth tied around his head, giving off the appearance of a cute bunny rabbit.

"Hunni?" I asked walking towards him.

He looked up, his eyes glistening with tears. "Emiko-chan!" he cried and gave me a hug. I hugged him back as he cried. "Takashi won't let me have any sweets!"

"I'm sorry. When your cavity gets better, you'll have as much sweets as you want," I soothed.

He pulled away from me, and I swear I could see hints of anger in his eyes. "But I want them now!" He backed away and ran down the hallway.

"Hunni!" I cried, running forward a few steps before stopping. Hunni had disappeared.

~..*..~

"Hey, Emiko," Raiden said as we set up for practice.

I grinned at him. "Raiden! Are you feeling better?" I experimentally played a few notes, using the tuner in front of me to tune myself.

"Yep." He leaned on my music stand. "Hey, do you want to go out this Saturday night? On a date? With...me?"

I looked up, pausing in my playing. "Oh, um..." How could I break this to him nicely? "Raiden, I'm already in a relationship."

Raiden visibly deflated. "Oh. With who?"

"Kyouya." I turned my attention back to the tuner and ignored Raiden's look of disbelief.

"_Ootori?_"

"Yeah. That's the one." Finished tuning, I began to warm up.

Raiden shuffled awkwardly. "Oh. Umm..Good luck in practice, then." He walked away, his head hanging. A bolt of guilt swept through me, but I didn't return his feelings.

~..*..~

Kyouya met me outside of the music room as we finished up. Hefting my folder more securely underneath my arm, my hand slipped into his as we walked down the hallway, my other hand clamped around the handle of my violin case.

"When's the concert?" Kyouya asked as he held the door open for me.

"Next month," I replied. "Excited for it?" I looked up at him, smiling. "You are coming, right?"

"Yes, I am excited," he replied in monotone. "Of course I'm coming."

I bounced forward, beaming at him. "Yay! It's going to be a lot of fun." A thought struck me. "How's Hunni feeling?"

Kyouya glanced down at me. "Much better. He and Takashi worked it all out, and his cavity's completely healed."

I smiled fondly. "That's good. Poor Hunni. I'm glad he's feeling better, though."

"Me as well. Our income from the guests might have gone down if it had kept up any longer. We would have had to choose a different option." His glasses flashed.

I sweatdropped. "Shadow King..." I muttered in English.

"I do speak English, as I've discussed many times before," Kyouya replied in English, raising an eyebrow at me.

"I know!" I retorted, sticking my tongue out at him. "But do you understand Spanish?" I asked, switching to Spanish.

Kyouya, irritated, switched back to Japanese. "Come along. It looks like it's going to rain." I glanced up at the sky as he held the door open for me. I slid inside as he also climbed in.

"Today was a good day," I commented as the driver climbed back in again and sped off.

Kyouya glanced down at me. "Oh?"

"Mhm." I leaned back against his arm. "My mom's thinking about coming to Japan to visit. She wants to meet this boyfriend of mine."

He raised an eyebrow, leaning down. "And who would this boyfriend be?"

I smiled up at him. "Guess."

"I think I know." Kyouya leaned down to capture my lips in a kiss as the rain began.

* * *

><p>AN

Oh my gatos! Thank you so much for all the amazing reviews that I received! ^.^ Almost a hundred review o.O you guys are seriously the best! xD *throws out confetti*

Review and you get a lifetime supply of BACON. XD

~Eva Sirico~


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